


Somewhere Across The Sea

by CardboarianNights



Series: Aquarium AU (Gabe/Jesse and Hanzo/Jack) [2]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Aquarium AU, Everyone at the aquarium is a troll, Gabe is 30 and Jesse is 21, Gabe is lonely, Healthy Relationships, Jack is 40 Hanzo is 30, Long-Distance Relationship, M/M, Making friends away from home, Sequel, college au somewhat, mermaid au, not that he would admit it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-18
Updated: 2017-04-11
Packaged: 2018-08-23 06:01:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 30,750
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8316550
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CardboarianNights/pseuds/CardboarianNights
Summary: Sequel to 'No Riptides'.Jesse McCree has found new meaning in life after falling into a shark humanoid's tank and now his life's journey continues far away from the aquarium in Indiana all the way out in Hawaii. There he attends college to fulfill his dream of becoming a Marine Biologist like his lover/mentor, Gabriel Reyes. Can love possibly continue to blossom between the two with such distance between them?





	1. On Hawaiian Shores

**Author's Note:**

> Please read 'No Riptides' FIRST so you know what the heck is going on in this fic! 
> 
> http://archiveofourown.org/works/8210768
> 
> Edit: Here's some awesome fanart of the fic By various Tumblr users!
> 
> (Gabe and Jesse kissing) http://mercy-for-old-soldiers.tumblr.com/post/153948942467 (By Randomdraggon)
> 
> (Some Gabe art!) https://milkcree.tumblr.com/post/153964600805/the-original-shark-gabe-drawing-inspired-by-the (By Milkcree *Tumblr is NSFW*)

Jesse was starting his college courses on a full-ride scholarship in Hawaii while Gabe was left behind at the aquarium. The shark-humanoid hybrid would never admit to missing the stupid twenty-one year old but the days seemed rather boring without the human cowboy to help him with tank duties. Jack spent more time with him but that made the water dragon humanoid, Hanzo, more anxious as he spent time with Gabriel. Hanzo was recently moved to the bigger General Population 2 tank and Gabe kept pushing the aquarium owner out of Gen Pop 1 after feedings so he would tend to Hanzo’s tank shyness issues.

Jack rolled his eyes as he climbed out of the tank after being shooed away by Gabriel when the feedings for the day concluded and sat at the top of the newly installed rubber-covered platform for the aquarium staff. He took the mouthpiece off and pushed his goggles up as he glared down at the scowling sharkman glaring up at him. “Gabe. Hanzo is not going to adjust to his tank if I’m constantly in there to distract him.” He huffed. Clearly having enough of the sharkman’s shit even though it was only week two of Jesse being gone. “You’re getting work done but come on! I know I’m a shit substitute for Jesse but you gotta work with me here!”

Gabe knew Jack was trying to be a supportive friend after Jesse left for college. He knew the old geezer was reaching out to him in his time of need but it was a lot harder for Gabriel to simply accept Jack’s help out of some twisted sense of pride. He didn't think he would be missing Jesse this much at all and finding himself working to exhaustion to not think about him. Worrying about Jesse wouldn't help either of them and so he worked to keep himself busy so he wouldn't have to think about him. Trouble did follow Jesse wherever he went but he was a resourceful idiot with a big heart and it ached something terrible for Gabe to have to admit that his choice to let his mate follow his dream was right. 

Jack sighed as he noticed the downtrodden look on Gabe’s face and Gabriel instantly tensed up, replacing his fleeting feels of loneliness easily with anger. “Shut up and worry about someone who actually needs help, Jack!”

“YOU need someone to worry about you, Gabe! You can just work yourself to the bone until Jesse comes home for vacation in a few months!” Jack emphasised as he pressed a palm to his forehead. Gabriel narrowed his eyes at Jack as he lowered himself in the water so only his head was peeking out of the water. “You know Jesse looked up to you before he fell for you, Gabe. He really wants to be a Marine Biologist like you are and he was torn up about leaving you behind to pursue that dream.” Jack sighed as he looked over at the Gen Pop 2 tank in the distance and saw Hanzo watching him on the rubber mat platform he built for him so he could comfortably look around the maintenance area. He remembered the time he spent in Japan getting Hanzo to trust him and the time they had to spend apart while he waited for months to get approval to have brought over. It had been a few months since then but Jack could understand the pain Gabriel was going through. “It’s okay to miss him, Gabe. It's okay to admit that your day doesn't feel the same without Jesse doing homework beside your resting tank during your break or swimming in the tank with you. He sends you messages on the tablet, right?” 

Gabe frowned as he looked down. The tablet was being charged over by the wall but… “It’s not the same. I can't see his face or hear him since water would ruin the tablet. I can’t type fast enough to keep up with him.”

Jack frowned understandably as Gabe admitted his difficulties through connecting with Jesse through technology. Jesse apparently talked to Jack the same way daily but he didn't have to deal with claws messing up the special water-proof sealing on his computer or phone like Gabe did with his tablet. Gabriel hated admitting that he was anything but in control of his life, earning himself a genuine college degree, becoming a world-renowned shark conservation activist; he was not EVER a prisoner of this tank. He was a respected employee who lived on-site. He had two interns under his care, down to one when Jesse left, but it was still a huge feat for any hybrid living in ‘captivity’. He refused to be considered anything less than equal with the humans who walked the lands with their two feet.

“Somethin’ up, Boss Man? You guys fightin’ again?” 

Jack turned around as Gabriel’s new intern stepped up onto the platform and plopped down next to the man in the wetsuit. He was still wearing his weird street clothing and had his headset around his neck with the music still pumping out of it. Gabe could hear it from where he was a few feet down so he could imagine how Jack was feeling right now. What was with the kid and frogs? Sharks are so much cooler.

“Gabe and I are just talking, Lucio. Believe me, this is not us fighting.” Jack chuckled.

“Not even close.” Gabe added with a tooth grin.

“Ah! I getcha! How’s Jesse doing? He enjoying the sun and the surf?” Lucio asked down to Gabe, looking confused as his boss turned and huffed.

“I’ll kick his fucking ass if he’s fucking around in Hawaii. He’s likely to fall into a volcano with how clumsy he is.” 

Lucio slapped his knee as he threw his head back laughing. Jack saw right through the joke and sighed as he got up. He said something to Lucio and the kid nodded his head before getting up as well to follow Jack out of Gabe’s sight. Lucio was only a year younger than Jesse but had a passion for music and aquatic life in all of its forms. He wasn't with them for public service like Jesse originally was but hand picked by Jack to join the crew as the cowboy would be hundreds of miles away and they would need someone to fill his role. Gabe didn't interfere with Jack’s scheme and let the kid with brown sea funnel hair into his tank with no fight, mainly cause Jesse was too busy drawing him away since they only had a few days together before he would leave. 

With no one to talk to, Gabe slipped quietly back under the water and idly swam about the perimeter of his tank. Jack was likely going to spend the next hour with Hanzo before having to lock down on administrative work he pushed aside to be with them while Lucio would do whatever tasks Jack assigned him. He was halfway down past the kelp fields when he heard a splash from the surface. Gabe turned around and was seeing red as he quickly swam upward to catch his tablet before continuing the rest of the way back up to breach the surface. 

“LUCIO! STOP THROWING MY SHIT INTO THE TANK!” Gabe screamed furiously as a certain frog-lover was putting on his flippers, wearing his zebra striped wetsuit, and laughing hysterically on the rubber platform above the tank. He was fuming from the extreme lack of respect Lucio had for his things, mainly his tablet. “What if it hits one of the older fish or a turtle, dip shit?! Stop laughing!”

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” Lucio chuckled as he moved to sit on the edge of the platform. “Jack wants me to to do coral counts in sector 25 through 30 since those have been acting up. Jesse sent you a message by the way.” The frog kid added quickly before pulling his goggles down and getting his oxygen mouthpiece in place. He slid himself off the edge and plunged into the water, feet first.

Gabe rolled his eyes and groaned before tapping the ‘on’ button to his tablet. He didn't have a password on the tablet since it was technically Jack’s and everyone working in the tanks used it to access the spreadsheets where they recorded data. Jack just happened to install instant messaging software on the damn thing a day after Jesse left and told him how to use it. Gabe swiped to pull up the messenger window and saw that he indeed had a message from the punk cowboy half a world away.

Cowboy MBiologist: (This message is for Gabe) How you holding up? Jack says you’re sulking around in the tank again even with Lucio holding the fort.

Gabe rolled his eyes. He hated that everyone used the tablet to talk to Jesse so there was absolutely no privacy between them and that he had to mark his messages so no one got confused on who Jesse was talking to. He tucked the tablet under his arm and swam downwards quickly to tuck himself down in his cove for privacy, even if anyone could scroll up later and see what they said to each other. He could at least put the tablet between two rocks and lay down comfortably in the sand to message him back with quick taps with his knuckles verses his talons.

Indiana Aquarium: (Gabe) Jack is a lying, hanging, goldfish shit, Jesse, don't trust a word he says. I’m doing fine, even if Frogger can be a bigger pain in the dorsal fin than you ever were at times. How is Hawaii? See any of my asshole relatives out there? Not those complete sharks, of course.

Gabe sent the message and then minimized the app so he could pull up the aquarium’s email account and see if Jesse sent more pictures/videos. Jesse loved sharing his adventures with them, and it brought a sense of peace to Gabe to see him enjoying himself. The idiot already had several friends and they would appear in the pictures from time to time but Gabe liked the ones Jesse took where he photographed the sea. The videos were boring to Lucio and Jack but he could close his eyes and imagine a time when he was young again. Gabe originally came from the Pacific Ocean but couldn't remember if he had ever been to the Hawaiian islands. Everything looked the same to him back then and he didn't really care about it, outside of its marine ecosystem, before Jesse said he was going to college there. Now? He could appreciate it and it's importance in regards to Jesse’s growth into adulthood. 

No new emails from Jesse. 

He frowned at that but the tablet rumbled lightly between the rocks as the app for the messenger lit up, and Gabe minimized the email app to pull up the messenger box.

Cowboy MBiologist: (To Gabe) Wow. You’re actually on at a decent time for me for once. Lol Don’t hawk on the others for being concerned, Boss. They’re just trying to help ya out and they’re doing me a big favor for doing so. As for the fish people? Haven't seen any out here and I go out to the beach every day. Where would you be if you were swimming around out here?

Indiana Aquarium: (Gabe) I’ll get over it, Jesse, just tell them to stop already since they won't listen to a damn thing I say on the matter! As for the ‘fish people’, as you so crudely put it, I wouldn't go within a mile of shore if you were walking the beach. But seriously? Warm water with high fish populations; you should know this, Jesse. That or ask your damn teachers where the ‘speaking fish’ are.

Cowboy MBiologist: (to Gabe) I’m in general education classes right now, Gabe. No one in the Marine Biology department will tell me squat and all they ask me is about you all the time to change the subject. Also, you know what I meant, Boss. Stop trying to start fights with me. Go bicker with Jack about Hanzo or the tank water being too cold in Gen Pop 1.

Indiana Aquarium: (Gabe) I wouldn't talk to you either if you still insist on wearing that cowboy hat ever goddamn place you go, Jesse. I’m amazed you managed to make friends to be honest. You paying them or something? Also, fuck you and your wetsuit, you don't suffer like I do!

Cowboy MBiologist: (to Gabe) That’s cruel! You’re suppose to be my loving and supportive mate, Jackass! I hope Jack throws extra ice cubes into the water just cause you made fun of my hat! You have a fucking sun lamp above your special pool, Gabe! Stop whining. I can practically hear your bitching every time the waves come in. Lol

Indiana Aquarium: (Gabe) You joke but I’ve had no reason to even go into that tank, Jesse.

Cowboy MBiologist: (to Gabe) What? Why? Is something wrong with it? Do you have a mite infestation in there again? Have you told Jack about it yet? I'm going to assume you didn't.

Indiana Aquarium: (Gabe) There’s nothing wrong with the tank, Jesse. I just feel restless laying in it now. Sleeping in my cove works fine.

Cowboy MBiologist: (to Gabe) Is it because of all the times I climbed in it with you?

Indiana Aquarium: (Gabe) .. Yes.

Cowboy MBiologist: (to Gabe) Shit. The one decent place set aside for you and I ruined it. I’m so sorry, Darlin’.

Indiana Aquarium: (Gabe) Don’t call me pet names, Jesse, we talked about this before. Also, don’t worry about it. I’ll get fed up of the cove eventually and switch back to the pool. I think Jack is going to put new sand in it soon but I’m not completely sure.

Cowboy MBiologist: (to Gabe) Let’s hope he teaches Lucio how to do a good flush out of your pool so it gets rid of that rodeo smell, right? Lol

Indiana Aquarium: (Gabe) I just checked the time zone converter and it’s almost fucking one in the morning for you, Jesse McCree! Go the fuck to sleep! 

Cowboy MBiologist: (to Gabe) Alright! Sheesh. Still the stiffy drill sergeant as always. I’ll email you the pictures I took yesterday plus my birthday party stuff! Night, Gabe!

Indiana Aquarium: (Gabe) Make sure you don't send something stupid that will get you fired, Jesse. I swear to god. Night.

With that, Gabe closes the messenger program and swims out of his cove to go find Lucio so he can pass the tablet off to him. The zebra striped wetsuit made him stick out like a sore thumb against the colorful coral clusters he was examining and Gabe swam up behind him and gently put his palm on Lucio’s shoulder. Frogger whipped around in surprise making Gabriel roll his eyes and handed him the tablet. Lucio nodded his head as he took it and held his thumb up to Gabe in approval before turning back around to pull up the spreadsheet to start logging the coral cluster conditions.

\--

Doing his last rounds of the aquarium before he hit the lights, Jack pressed his hand to the tank where Hanzo had his own since he was walking the exhibits rather than the maintenance area above. He lived on-site at the aquarium since he brought Gabe in several years ago along with Angela since the PETRAS ACT required zoos and aquariums to have 24/7 medical support teams on site for housed human hybrids along with a plethora of other restrictions for fair quality of life treatments for the species. It was why Jack had the second population tank built so he could bring in Hanzo along with expanding the aquarium with the extra funds they got from interviews, research grants and donations from the public. Gabriel, being his partner in crime and enthusiast driver of the donation campaign to get the tank built in the first place, broke his heart shortly before Jesse fell into the tank, but it was even more heartbreaking to see him in a slump after Jesse left. Gabe didn't have a lot of people to talk to him who REALLY wanted to talk to him outside of his unique status of being the first humanoid with a degree from an IVY League school and it was hard to dig through the multitude of applications and interviews he conducted to find someone who would work well under him. 

Jack bid Hanzo good night and turned to walk away from the tank, knowing full well that the water serpent hybrid would watch him the entire time until he left the exhibit hall for Gen Pop 2 and moved into Gen Pop 1. Hanzo still had separation anxiety issues that they were slowly working on since moving him to the larger tank; Gabriel taught him everything he knew about how to interact safely with the aquatic population in his tank along with how to monitor the tank conditions itself. Hanzo’s tank had one seal in it; A small, young female, that they named ‘Hana’, who got injured and was in no condition to be released back into the wild since her species was critically endangered. She wasn't aggressive but Hanzo’s lack of interaction with intelligent non-speakers made him skittish when she swam over to engage in play behavior with him. The seal was rubbing up against the length of Hanzo’s body affectionately as Jack took one last look at Hanzo and smiled as he watched Hanzo hesitantly push away from the glass to follow her. Gabe was right in assuming she would do better in a shark-less tank and bonding with Hanzo.

He walked down the short dimmed hallway with the variety of small tanks featuring their deep sea collection of fish and aggressive fish species, leaning in to make sure everything looked alright in each tank before moving to the Gen Pop 1 area. The automated light system already dimmed the lights around the tank, something he programmed to help calm the fish in the large tank since Gabriel was sleeping in his cove in the coral at the bottom of the tank since Jesse left. Jack took his phone out of his pocket and pulled up the messenger app to see the chat history for the day since Jesse only really texted him but he talked to Lucio and Gabe through the app. 

He scrolled down through the conversation Lucio and Jesse had earlier over movies as he looked at the fish and sharks moved about slowly through the tank past him behind the glass. Jack paused as he saw that Gabe and Jesse had an actual, albeit short, conversation earlier in the evening. Jesse had a way of prodding information out of Gabe unintentionally and it was always interesting to see what was on that humanoid’s mind. Gabe and Jesse seemed to be convinced there was a humanoid population of some sort out around the Hawaiian islands; It made Jack nervous that Gabe wasn't trying to talk Jesse out of trying to make contact with them but he was at least being unhelpful, as usual, in regards to helping Jesse out to narrow his search. He would have to give Jesse a lecture about the PETRAS ACT specifically banning human initiated conversation between wild humanoids and remind him that Gabe had to fight rather hard to get the politicians in the UN to put that clause in. Jack figured Gabe was being a bit too soft around the edges since he missed Jesse more than he would ever admit; It was kind of sweet in a Gabe kind of way, regardless of how south it could go if Jesse did approach a humanoid in the wild.

It was obvious that the university would tell it's staff to keep quiet about any humanoids in the waters due to the PETRAS ACT, if there was any, but Jack wondered if Jesse got hounded due to his close association with Gabriel. The university president contacted Jack almost two days after Jesse sent the university an application with a written recommendation letter from Jack and offered to give Jesse a full-ride scholarship since he admired the conservation efforts their aquarium made. It made him wonder if sending Jesse all the way out to Hawaii really such a good idea. Hawaii was an excellent place for Jesse to literally get his feet wet and work along with some retired marine biologists that Jack personally knew once upon a time but he didn't think Gabriel would take it so hard.

Angela had been right to fret over him more than usual; Checking on him an hour after feeding time to just talk with him and collect data like his weight. He was eating but lost a pound in the first week Jesse left from how much more active he was being in his tank. Angela took Jack behind closed doors at the beginning of week two and let him know that she was going to diagnose him as being depressed, with the heightened physical activity to cover up his anxiety being the key characteristic along with a drastic change in sleeping patterns. Jack and Hanzo had a feeling it would be the case due to Gabe’s lack of strong relationship ties with the other workers and volunteers at the aquarium; Having an abrasive personality didn't really help him make friends. Gabe pretty much admitted it himself by flat out telling Jesse why he wasn't using his private tank in the maintenance department. Jack would have to check on the shipping order to see when the new sand would be arriving this week and schedule a tank cleaning right when it gets in.

The promise of Jesse sending more pictures and video reminded Jack that he needed to buy some bluetooth portable speakers for Gabe’s private tank or something so Gabe could listen to the audio of the videos. Jesse sent a lot of videos of just him setting up his tripod up to record the waves crashing against the sand beach while the seagulls flew overhead; He had to have sent about an hour’s worth of ocean footage along with videos of him goofing around that Gabe would like to hear without risking the tablet getting damaged. Gabe was too pragmatic and proud sometimes to admit he wanted something.

Jack continued to walk the length of the glass tank, chuckling as he read the two arguing back and forth over their respective nitpicks with each other but Jack knew it was entirely playful between them. He could read between not so subtle lines that Gabe missed Jesse and did want to tell him that but they all knew Jesse would come running back to Indiana if Gabe said that he missed him outright; The stubborn shark hybrid would be on his deathbed before he would say anything that would compromise Jesse’s dream. Besides the airfare was a big enough damper that Jesse would have to stay at the dorms over the week long Thanksgiving break much less him impulsively jumping on a plane to see Gabe.

He finished up reading the conversation as he stopped in front of the few angles you could actually see the cove in the tank, not that it didn't give you more than a view of Gabe’s tail, if you were lucky. Jack sighed and tucked the phone into his pocket as he leaned his shoulder up against the tank glass. He needed to do something to get Gabe going again that wasn't work-related if he didn't want to risk Gabe getting sick from stress. Gabe responded well with Lucio but it wasn't nearly enough to divert him from overworking himself so that he would be too tired to swim up to his private tank.

Jack had to come up with something to help his friend and partner through this.

\--

Jesse McCree was a lot of things; former gangster, trickster, protégé to a world renowned marine biologist and most recently his lover but he was never one for traditional classroom learning. He was set up with a tutor almost immediately from day one due to his lack of attending formal high school and he was very appreciative of the person he was learning the ropes from; Genji Shimada. He was twenty-one like Jesse and a native to Japan but was extremely good at English. Though the guy somehow managed to be on the honor roll with his grades while also being a party-going playboy. 

Jesse was out walking the beach again like he usually did in the morning, snapping pictures with Jack’s old Canon and trying to find the best new spots with the tide out. There were plenty of wave pools practically crawling with little critters he wanted to show Gabe and Jack back at the aquarium though secretly he was hoping he would have a run-in with the local merfolk if he got up early enough.

“You out here this early again, Jesse?” Genji yawned as he stretched his arms out and placed them casually behind his head as he stepped bare-footed over to early-rising cowboy. Jesse took one quick picture of a good-looking starfish in the pool before turning around to wave to his friend/tutor.

“Yep. Still can't break the cycle of getting up early and doing somethin’. It might as well be taking pictures and video for the folks back home.” He drawled happily. Jesse had his black Indiana Aquarium swim trunks on and a Toy Story 2 t-shirt on that had a picture of the cast on the front and back along with his trust stetson on his head as he waded carefully through the pools. Genji was in his stylish capris and a crazy shirt from Harajuku since he was from a rich family and always wore the latest fashions from his homeland, no matter how batshit crazy they looked to Jesse.

“I kind of got that on week one but it’s been a month, Jesse! You were itching to go to the beach when I took you out drinking on your 21st birthday!” The green-haired Japanese man sighed as he walked over, carelessly stomping over the pools with his sandal to get to Jesse as the cowboy visibly cringed in place. Genji then looked down at what was bothering him and saw a crushed starfish under his sandal. “Gross.” He stuck his tongue out before kicking the remains away. “Anyways, you need to stop doing this every morning before class. People are calling you a ‘fish-kisser’, Jesse.”

Jesse groaned as he let his camera fall back against his chest with the neck strap before bringing his hands up to drag them down his face. Genji was a nice person and one of the first people to approach him on campus to be his friend but his blatant disregard for aquatic life was one of the reasons he was obviously not majoring in Marine Biology. “Genji. I know you’re think you’re helping me, and that’s real swell of you, but this helps me deal with not being at the aquarium, alright?” Jesse explained as he took his hands off his face and gestured to the wave pools around them. “The aquarium and the folks there are pretty much my family and got me back on the right path in my life so I wanna share my experience out here with them as well.”

Genji shrugged his shoulders at that but nodded his hand in understanding. “I still think you’re not living your own life like you want to though. You barely drank two beers at the bar for your party.”

“That’s cause I celebrated my twenty-first before I came over here and I barely knew the people you invited. They were just there for an excuse to drink, Genji.” Jesse sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose. “I’ve gotten drunk a lot of times before I straightened up so there was not much of a thrill for me, alright?”

Genji rolled his eyes and sighed as he turned away from McCree to look out at the ocean. “I don’t see what’s so great about the ocean. It’s just water with rocks and such in it.”

Jesse felt like there might be something a bit more to that but he didn’t really feel like arguing over the merits of marine biology again with Genji. Jack and the others gave him a new shot at life and Gabe gave him a chance at love; He owed his life to them and wanted to follow in their footsteps. Gabriel’s existence proved that there was fascinating things that lived beneath the surface and he wanted to be able to work to be able to protect it with him and Jack. Genji was too sheltered to understand that and that’s why Jesse let his quips slide.

“Thanks for tellin’ me what your friends think about me, Genji. Makes me glad they’re not Marine Biology majors and I won’t have to put up with them next year when I can finally enter the program.” Jesse picked up his camera hanging by his chest, carefully make his way over to a few pools he hadn’t investigated yet, expecting Genji to get bored with him and walk off but heard the splashing of careless stomping into the pools follow behind him. “Could you NOT do that, Genji?” Jesse whipped around to confront Genji as he was just about to step into another pool.

“What the hell? It’s just water!” Genji shot back defensively. 

“There’s LIFE in that water, Genji!” Jesse countered, growing frustrated with Genji’s disregard for life. “Could you PLEASE step around the pools like I am? It’s not that hard.”

Genji’s eyes narrowed as he dropped his arms to his side before gesturing to Jesse. “This is why people make fun of you, Jesse! Why can’t you just act like a normal college student and not draw such attention to yourself? There should be other ways to cope from being home sick!”

“Who says I’m homesick? I’m having the time of my life out here!” Jesse laughed incredulously as he spun around to gesture to everything around him. “I’ve never been to the beach in my life and now I’m going to school out in motherfucking Hawaii and studying under Jack Morrison’s old colleagues! How can I be homesick if I feel like I never left home?!”

Genji looked at Jesse with pure concern on his face and reached up to play with one the sleeves on his jacket. He wasn’t homesick. This was an opportunity of a life-time and one he could not afford to pass up just because he was hundreds of miles away from the aquarium. He was going to go back after finals were done and spend three weeks with Gabe and the others! There was nothing to be homesick about at all! 

“Is the aquarium really all that you hype it up to be like, Jesse?” Genji suddenly asked as he looked him firmly in the eyes.

“Of course it is!” Jesse answered confidently with the brightest smile he had. “People all around the world in the zoology and marine biology fields make fucking pilgrimages out to the biggest aquarium in the United States that happens to be located in what used to be a dingy little corn field! I’ve met pretty much anyone who's anyone in the field and even got to have dinner with some of them cause they wanted to talk to THE Gabriel Reyes’ protege. We even got a water serpent hybrid in the newer tank who is learning the ropes of being a hybrid ambassador! Straight from Japan and saved from being a play toy to some Chinese drug lord!”

Genji’s eyes widened at that and he brought a hand up to cup his chin as he hummed in deep thought. Jesse was proud that he was able to make a positive impression on the Shimada hier if it meant that he was closer to understanding why Jesse loved marine biology so much. That’s all he honestly wanted.

“You plan on going back to the aquarium during winter break, Yes?” He suddenly asked.

“Yeah. Can’t have them missing me, now can I?” Jesse chuckled fondly, thinking about Gabe’s grumpy face for a moment before Genji smiled up at him.

“Then I shall accompany you back to Indiana to see this aquarium for myself!” Genji grinned mischievously as if Jesse challenged him to a bet of some kind.

“W-wait!” Jesse held up his hands as Genji blind-sided him with that one. “Not just anyone can come and interact with Gabe and Hanzo! There’s a whole lot of paperwork and interviews you gotta go through with the owner of the place! I can’t even bring my own mom behind the scenes with how strict security is there.” He admitted.

“That is fine! I’ll have plenty of time to persuade Jack Morrison to let me have a tour with you.” He grinned confidently as he put his hands on his hips. “You underestimate the persuasive powers of a Shimada, Jesse!”

“Jack don’t take bribes, if that’s what you’re implying, Buckeroo. I’ve seen plenty of huge media companies try before.” Jesse deadpanned.

Genji immediately hand waved that suggestion with a look of disgust on his face. “No. I will do it the proper way, if you will show me where to get started. That is all I ask for from you, Jesse.”

Jesse sighed as he brought a hand to rub the back of his neck before looking back at Genji. “Fine. I can’t afford to pay for your plane ticket or lodging unless you’re fine with bumming it at my mother’s place.”

Genji nodded his head confidently and held out his hand. “It is a deal then. Assuming I can persuade your boss, of course.”

“Alright. As long as you’re sure this is really how you wanna spend your winter vacation.” Jesse chuckled nervously before shaking Genji’s hand on it. 

Why did trouble always have to follow him around wherever he went?


	2. Preparation

Indiana Aquarium: (Gabe) How are you doing studying for your finals, Jesse?

 

Cowboy MBiologist: (to Gabe) Woah! You get done with work early today, Gabe? It’s only eleven at night here right now! 

 

Indiana Aquarium: (Gabe) Jack finally changed out the sand in my pool after doing a heavy cleaning on it and now Angela wants me to rest under the sun lamp in here.

 

CMB: (to Gabe) Angela actually made you do something for once? As for studying? I’ve been putting in a lot of hours trying to do you guys proud by making the honor roll in my first semester! Got straight A’s in everything but English and that one’s a B right now! My tutor makes learning all this shit a lot easier.

 

IA: (Gabe) I needed a good nap under the lamp so it works out for both of us. Lucio and Jack got a mini speaker system set up on the edge of my pool so I can finally hear the audio on those videos you sent. I forgot what it’s like to hear the ocean and feel the waves roll over my spines. Keep up the good work in your classes.

 

CMB: (to Gabe) Right. Jack said something about you intentionally beaching yourself when you were younger in the wild. You just really don’t like cold water now do ya? Lol

 

IA: (Gabe) Is it really considered ‘beaching’ if seals do the same fucking thing? You make it sound like I was a total dumbass winding up on the beach when I could easily roll myself back into the water.

 

CMB: (to Gabe) I wish Jack had photos of that or at least an old video in the archives so I could see what you looked like when you were smaller.

 

IA: (Gabe) You don’t see me asking you for baby pictures so keep your nose out of my mine, alright? I didn’t do the sunbathing thing until a few years before my tail got ripped to ribbons though.

 

CMB: (to Gabe) If we took you to the beach would you do the same thing?

 

IA: (Gabe) … Maybe.

 

CMB: (to Gabe) Jack! I know you’re reading this! Gabe wants to go to the beach!

 

IA: (Gabe) What fucking beach would he take us to?! Lake fucking Michigan?!

 

CMB: (to Gabe) LMAO! He’s calling you cheap now, Jack!

 

IA: (Gabe) He knows what he is and I’m not letting Angela sedate me halfway across the country in a tiny tank just to go to the fucking beach with you!

 

IA: (Jack) You talkin’ shit about me in chat, Gabe? On company property no less?

 

CMB: (to All) OH MY GOD IT’S FINALLY HAPPENING! LUCIO OWES ME TEN BUCKS!

 

IA: (Gabe) Stop fucking monitoring our chat when we’re talking, Jack! I have no privacy as it is!

 

IA (Jack) Good point. I’ll leave you two be then. Text me if you need help on your Bio stuff, Jesse.

 

CMB: (to Jack) Will do, Sir! 

 

CMB: (to Gabe) Naw. But it would be nice to lay down next to you in the sand where I don’t run the risk of drowning if I fall asleep.

 

IA: (Gabe) Jack might have gone a bit overboard with the sand this time.

 

CMB: (to Gabe) That’s the best fucking news I’ve heard from you guys since I left!

 

IA: (Gabe) No amount of extra sand on one side of my pool will keep your dumb ass from drowning, Jesse. Humans can drown in puddles, I’ve heard.  
CMB: (to Gabe) And there goes my excitement for coming home. Thanks, Boss.

 

IA: (Gabe) I’m going back to sleep. Keep up the good work.

 

CMB: (to Gabe) Pleasant dreams, Gabe.

 

\--

 

Jack replayed the interview video he recorded having with Genji Shimada after talking with Jesse at length through text messages since it was too expensive to make a call to his phone out there. He still had his phone out and laying on his desk as he reclined back in his seat, ready to pop another question or two to Jesse as they came to him. Jesse and Genji had plans to come back to Indiana for their school’s winter vacation in a month and Jack had to decide if he could really trust Genji to not throw the whole operation into chaos by letting him in the back. 

 

The kid was majoring in economics at the University and had no plans to pursue anything in the biology field; He wouldn’t learn anything useful from seeing the tricks of the trade behind the scenes of an aquarium, even if it was the most successful one in the United States. That was the biggest red flag he had on Genji from his point of view but being Jesse’s friend and tutor seemed to dampen that edge considerably. His only issue would be how Gabriel would respond to Genji’s presence around Jesse and their friendship. 

 

Lucio was a different story since he worked his way up from a long-time volunteer to an intern so Gabe had plenty of time to adjust to being around with the easy-going music maker but Genji would literally be dropped into the back area from day one with no such luck. The best outcome that Jack could see would be Gabriel being coldly indifferent to Genji or flat out kicking him out of the tank at worst. Jack reached over to pick up his phone to send Jesse another text.

 

Jack: What’s your real relationship with Genji, Jesse? I understand if being apart from Gabriel has allowed you new opportunity to meet people your age and I’m not going to hawk on anything you did at school or even think I have the right to chastise you when you’re an adult now. I won’t tell Gabe anything we talk about.

 

Jesse: Genji hasn’t ever expressed any interest in me like that, Jack. You don’t understand how badly I want this month to be over so I can finally see him again. I know we ain’t promised to each other or anything officially but I don’t see Genji as anything but a friend.

 

Jack hummed as he set his phone down and stroked his chin with his hand, feeling the prickles of his five o’clock shadow. He played the video over once more as he watched Genji answering his questions during their skype interview. The kid was VERY good at talking and figuring out exactly what to say even if the answer wasn’t a positive one in his mind. He just might be tricky enough to be able to pull the wool over Gabe’s eyes if he did happen to have feelings for Jesse, in the worst case. The kid had a lot of charm to him so Gabe might be able to put up with him for three weeks. He picked up the phone and started typing his response.

 

Jack: I’ll authorize his entry as a temporary guest, Jesse. He doesn’t go anywhere without you or I with him, got it?

 

Jesse: Loud and clear, Jack. Make sure you prep Gabe so he won’t be surprised seeing me bring a friend home, alright?

 

Jack: I have every intention of doing so. Good luck on your studies, Jesse.

 

Jesse: I’ll do my best not to let you guys down!

 

Jack turned off his phone with a fond smile on his lips before tucking it away into his pocket. He then started to build a profile with all the information he gathered from Jesse and Genji himself for Gabriel’s tablet, including the video interviews before sending them to Gabe’s personal email. He then pulled up the messenger app on his computer and started typing a self-send message to alert Gabriel about the email.

 

IA: (to Gabe) Check your personal email ASAP - Jack

 

With that sent, Jack locked his computer and groaned as he stretched out in his chair. A glance at the clock showed that it was dinner time and he was more than ready to make himself something filling in the staff kitchen after watching the same videos one hundred times that day.

 

\--

 

Gabe felt the tablet under him rumble as he slowly opened his eyes. He was laying in the soft sand of his private pool, partially submerged, under the sun lamp and listening to the ocean videos Jesse sent on a loop through the portable speakers. The nostalgia of hearing the ocean waves through the speakers plus the heat of the lamp made it easier to sleep as Angela forced him again to spend the day on ‘lamp rest’. He had absolutely no issues with her orders but the rumble of his tablet made him force himself to pull it out from under his chest and prop it up in the sand to turn it on. He clicked his tongue as he saw the power had one bar left in the top left corner; That’s what he gets for running the bluetooth function and leaving his tablet on under him for warmth.

 

He pulled up the blink messenger window and saw Jack’s message, maybe slightly disappointed it wasn’t Jesse but went straight to work before he would let that feeling sink in. He logged into his email after signing out of the general aquarium staff email and downloaded the attachment while reading the new email.

 

Subject: Jesse is Bringing a Friend Home with Him

 

Body: Here’s a profile I made from the research I conducted on him. I’m giving him a restricted guest pass to the maintenance area but he has to always be either with Jesse or myself. Don’t take this as an offense that Jesse doesn’t want to spend time with you, Gabe. It’s the opposite and you know it. - Jack

 

Gabe huffed as he finished reading Jack’s email; The fucking bastard knew him too well, it seemed. He honestly didn’t really think he was jealous until he pulled up the profile and saw a smiling, good-looking, asian kid in the profile picture. Oh yeah. This guy was competition, no doubt about it but he still read the profile anyways to collect more information about the kid. 

 

Name: Genji Shimada  
Sex: Male  
Age: 21  
Nation of Origin: Japan  
Major: Economics  
Languages: Japanese, Spanish, English, and Chinese.  
Favorite Marine Animal: Manta Ray  
…  
…

 

Jack wrote down his thoughts in detail and a lot of it was basically rehashing the fact that he sensed that they were really just friends but Gabe didn’t get that feeling at all, especially when he watched the several interview videos. The kid knew exactly how to answer or weasel his way out of answering a question he didn’t want to answer with an almost charming charisma. He was very much a threat if he could charm the pants off a guy like Jack and no doubt Jesse too. Trouble always flanked Jesse McCree only this time it had an actual name and penis.

 

He closed out of the profile application and logged back into the general aquarium email account before pulling up the videos of the ocean once more to play them again. Gabriel needed to relax and go back to sleep. He was going to need to bring his A game against this Genji Shimada if he wanted to prove he was still worthy of Jesse’s affections, even if his voice of reason reassured him of his place in the cowboy’s heart. Instinct was always something he falled back on when he felt backed into the corner and it helped him at least trick himself so he could fall back asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Any McReyes discord servers out there? I might be interested in joining!


	3. almost home

Jesse had his things packed to head home almost two days before final exams ended and he was all bright-eyed as he and Genji got out of the taxi at the airport. Genji had a hangover for once in his life and was cradling his head as he followed Jesse through check-in. Jesse’s phone was vibrating like crazy as the aquarium chat was buzzing wildly when he pulled it out of his pocket while waiting in line with Genji to get through security.

 

IA: (Lucio) Oh man! You’ll have your mind blown when you hear the new tunes I made you at the party, Jesse! 

 

IA: (Jack) What party?

 

IA: (Angela) Oh? We are having a party for Jesse’s return?

 

IA: (Jack) Oh god no. We are NOT having a party at the aquarium!

 

IA: (Reinhardt) It will be fun, Jack! Food and music to celebrate our comrade’s homecoming!

 

IA: (Gabe) How do I turn the vibrate feature off again, Jack?

 

IA: (Jack) If I have to put up with this bullshit, Gabe, then so will you.

 

IA: (Hanzo) Can we not have the party in the maintenance floor? Hana will insist on joining you again like last time.

 

IA: (Gabe) Why aren’t you keeping her on a short leash like I taught you?!

 

IA: (Hanzo) You have no right telling me how to control my tank when you kicked her out of yours in the first place!

 

IA: (Angela) I firmly agree that the party should not be on the maintenance floor!

 

IA: (Jack) I don’t want a party at my aquarium. Period!

 

CMB: (to Jack) Can’t we just have one in the convention room, Jack?

 

IA: (Jack) No. You’ll insist that Gabe and Hanzo should be part of the party after one fucking drink, Jesse McCree, and we’re back at square one!

 

Jesse threw his head back and laughed as the chat literally exploded after that. Jack and Gabe instantly went for blood after Gabriel thought Jack wanted to leave them out on purpose. Lucio and Reinhardt cheered them on from the peanut gallery while Angela continued to insist that the party not be on the maintenance floor just so she wouldn’t have to stitch up anyone for throwing themselves out of the tank to join in the fun. Reinhardt moving from volunteer to staff must have made the place a literal mad house and Jesse was practically crying from laughing so hard.

 

“What’s so funny, Jesse?” Genji groaned as he rested his head against the extended handle for his rolling suitcase.

 

“The aquarium staff chat room is a gold mine of trolling, I tell ya, Genji! Both of my bosses are at each other’s throats while our head vet is still trying to negotiate the party actually happening!” He managed to say as he wiped the tears from the corner of his eyes.

 

“How is it a good thing that your bosses are at each other’s throats? I thought the owner was the shot caller.” Genji spoke softly as he continued to keep his eyes shut and head propped up by his suitcase handle.

 

“Naw. It ain’t like that at the aquarium! Jack owns the place but him and Gabriel pretty much decide together on what does and does not happen; They have an equal partnership and Gabe just likes to screw with him from time to time.” Jesse explained before the both of them moved up in line.

 

“Isn’t Gabriel Reyes a merfolk though?”

 

Jesse quirked a brow at his friend for stating the obvious. “Yeah, but the PETRAS ACT makes them equal to us land walkers, Genji. Gabriel pretty much helped write the rules with the UN himself to boot. Why wouldn’t Jack respect him as an equal if he see’s Gabe like that?”

 

“It’s not that way in Japan or many other island nations, regardless if our governments signed off on the treaty. I’ve seen what the richest of men can do with excess wealth and time.” Genji spoke cryptically.

 

“Not your own folks, I hope.” Jesse murmured as he placed his luggage on the x-ray scanner belt along with his shoes and nudged Genji behind him. “You’re holding up the line.”

 

Genji straightened up and realized he was indeed up next before hastily pulling off his shoes and setting his suitcase on the belt with Jesse’s stuff. Jesse went through the body scanner first, setting off the metal detector once before he bashfully removed his belt and handed it to security before going through the scan once more. Genji was holding his sides as he laughed at Jesse’s ‘unique’ taste in belt buckles as the security staff held their laughter barely in check. Genji went through the full body scan with no issues and resumed laughing once he was on the other side as Jesse put his hand and belt back on.

 

“Shut the hell up, Genji.” Jesse weakly huffed as he put his shoes back on and took his suitcase off the belt at the same time Genji did.

 

“This is why I like you, Jesse! You make me laugh!” Genji snickered before Jesse gave him a firm shove, almost knocking the shorter Japanese man into another flyer as they glared at them. “Sorry!” He apologized and bowed apologetically to the older man before the man sighed and waved it off.

 

“Oops.” Jesse smirked as he extended the handle on his suitcase and watched as Genji glared at him with a flushed look on his face.

 

“You are so not, Jesse McCree.” Genji grumbled as he extended his own handle and the two of them walked side by side into the food court with their bags rolling behind them.

 

Jesse went and got Genji a fruit smoothie as he held a table and guard their luggage before getting in line to get himself some Mikky D’s. Boy was he ever hungry since he practically skipped breakfast from the excitement of heading home. He really wanted to talk to Gabe ‘privately’ but that clearly was not going to be the case since the others seemed more inclined to plan impulse parties than actually work. Must suck to be Jack right now. Jesse could still feel his phone vibrating in his pocket after he slipped it back in when they got a table and he could sit down to fetch it from his suitcase after he shoved it in before the security check.

 

He wondered if Gabe missed him as much as he did. Everyone seemed to be tip-toeing around the topic when Jesse emailed or texted them; It was only Gabe himself that was being more honest about how he was feeling than the others for once. Clearly he was doing better since getting his private tank cleaned out and was sleeping in it more but Gabe had him worried the first few months. Maybe he shouldn’t climb into the private tank when he got to the aquarium if it really was going to be an issue, as much as he hated the idea with not napping with Gabe under his lamp. Besides, he didn’t want Genji to get any ideas that it was okay for him to interact with merfolk so intimately and possibly hurt himself out in Hawaii if he ran into some in the wild.

 

The realization of his role as an educator really hit home with that thought that he was the next generation of role models for kids like him. Is this how Jack felt when he saw Gabriel interacting with him a few weeks before Gabe seriously took him on as an apprentice? Now he knows why Jack has white hair in his early fifties. He seriously owes him a keg of beer for the shit he put up with him.

 

“Next!”

 

Jesse chuckled nervously as he approached the register to order his meal.


	4. Toss me around like a seal

“Excited, Gabe?” Jack asked as the two of them swam on the surface of the water together, something Gabriel only did when he actually wanted to talk and swim laps with him. Jesse would be in with Genji in about an hour at the airport and would be spending the rest of the evening with his mother. He wouldn’t get to see him until the aquarium opened to the public in the morning but he was still very much excited that he had loads of nervous energy to burn off this evening. 

 

“Maybe. It sounds like you are, Jack.” Gabe smirked at his friend for a moment before dipping his head down into the water to make sure none of the sharks got curious enough to go up to the kelp forest. They were all fed but it was still Gabe’s job as escort to make sure Jack stayed safe in his tank at all times. 

 

“I’ll admit that I’m happy to see our honor roll student come back to us. It felt just like yesterday that he was just eighteen and starting to study to get his GED.” Jack sighed nostalgically as he rolled onto his back and slowly propelled himself beside Gabriel with his flippers. “You did good with him, Gabe. I don’t think any of us give you enough credit for pushing him as hard as you did.”

 

“Positive reinforcement never works like it should with me, right?” Gabriel smirked knowingly at Jack as the other man rolled his eyes.

 

“That was forever ago, Gabe. Besides, I think you spending time with Jesse was pretty positive enough to reinforce your good behavior.” Jack shot back playfully and gently pushed his fist against Gabe’s shoulder, not wanting to actually punch him out of respect for his friend.

 

“Yeah. Yeah. Morrison. You keep acting like you kept me in line and see how far you’ll last in my tank.” Gabe huffed lightly. Jack chuckled at the banter as Gabe rolled onto his back beside him while they continued to talk. “At least you finally stopped calling ‘kid’, Jack. Urgh.” Gabriel shivered as he held himself.

 

“I’m not the one dating him now, Gabe. Sorry that old habits die hard.” Jack shrugged his shoulders. “Kind of hard not to see him as my own son on a good day.”

 

“That’s disgusting, Jack.” Gabe gagged dramatically before Jack actually punched his shoulder; They both got a laugh out of it so no harm was done. “Speaking of dating, how are you and Hanzo doing? Hana helping him out with his separation anxiety?” He asked Jack curiously as the both rolled over onto their fronts to turn around at the end of the tank and start on their next lap.

 

Jack hummed as he rolled back onto his back and considered the question for a few moments. “He’s getting better. The fish activity at the bottom of tank doesn’t bother him so much anymore since Hana occupies his attention much more since she swims a lot faster and is more active. I’ve seen Hanzo sleep with him human half out of the water on the platform set up I have for Hana to rest on so I’ll likely have to install a rubber mat where he prefers to rest.”

 

“He’s still skittish to sleep in the cove you had carved out for him?” 

 

“You got to remember that his tank in Japan was bare his entire childhood and could barely hold him fully coiled when the owners wanted to sell him. It’s been half a year since we got him and he’s adjusted to two tanks rather well considering his history.” Jack reminded him. “Open water doesn’t spook him anymore and he plays with Hana just fine. He just needs to get used to the ecosystem down at the bottom before he’ll really start to relax. Pretty sure the choice to put Hana in his tank accelerated his ability to adjust with her taking the pressure of his mind.”

 

“That was the original plan Angela and I came up for you when we moved up Lucio plus taking in Hana. I guess it was a bit too much to throw at you at once, huh? I never apologized properly for that.” Jack confessed with a sigh.

 

“It’s fine. I know what you were doing when you brought Frogger on the team and let Hana do some tank adjustment exercises in Gen Pop 1. I have a pretty good idea of how your mind works at this point, Jack. Even if you ideas are stupid as hell sometimes.” Gabe gently punched Jack’s shoulder back, drawing a sigh of relief from his human partner.

 

“Well. I guess I should go spend some time with Hanzo and Hana before I’m all swimmed out for the day. You want me to walk Genji through the aquarium tomorrow while you get some quality time with Jesse before we bring him through the back?” Jack asked curiously as he stood upright in the water while grabbing the ladder on the side of the tank.

 

Gabe thought about it for a moment and just a moment before he nodded his head, not wanting to admit out loud that he did want the private time before he was forced to swallow his pride for Jesse’s sakes. Jack smiled understandably before removing his flippers and climbing up the ladder. “I’ll be sure to take my time, Gabe.”

 

“Thanks.” Gabriel muttered before swimming off to go to his private pool and pull himself up into it. He pulled on the drawstring after getting his tail in and closed it off to the tank below as he got settled in. Jack set his fully charged tablet down on the little counter he installed for Gabriel before clicking the bluetooth speakers on and then walked away without a word to go to the Gen Pop 2 tank. Gabriel waited until Jack was out of sight before reaching up to pick up the tablet and turned it on. The chat messenger app was blinking so Gabe swiped it open and saw that he missed a message a few hours ago while the tablet was charging in the corner.

 

CMB: (to Gabe) Can’t wait to see you tomorrow.

 

He smiled at that and closed up the chat window to load up the video playlist of the ocean as he shifted the sand around him to get comfortable. The soft sounds of the waves crashing on the shore and the bickering of the seagulls over the oceans almost immediately relaxed Gabriel as he laid the table down under his chest, protecting it instinctively and feeling the warmth that came from the device lull him to sleep; That along with the thoughts of Jesse finally coming home and his loneliness subsiding for the next three weeks.

 

\--

 

Jack had a feeling that Jesse would be waiting at the door thirty minutes before the aquarium opened and rolled his eyes as the guy pleaded to him with those puppy dog eyes of his to let him in. Mei, the receptionist working today’s shift, giggled as Jesse continued to to embarrass himself and glanced over to see the sharply dressed Genji Shimada looking at his friend incredulously. Not wanting Genji to suffer through thirty minutes of ‘Muttcree’ bullshit, Jack held out his hand and let Mei toss him the keys from the counter. He caught them with ease and unlocked the door, quickly catching it with his foot as Jesse tried to barge in.

 

“I didn’t say I was going to let you in, McCree.” Jack huffed as he crossed his arms over his chest.

 

Jesse looked at him like he shot him through the heart and held his hand dramatically over his chest as such while he heard Genji vocally groan in embarrassment. He liked Genji already.

 

“Do I really gotta do it, Sir?” Jesse asked in disappointment as he hesitantly reached for his cowboy hat.

 

“You know the rules about coming in off schedule, McCree. Hand it over.” Jack held out his hand and Jesse sighed heavily as he reached down to remove the ‘BAMF’ buckle from his belt along with his hat. He opened up the door to take the offending items from Jesse’s hands as Genji was keeled over laughing outside of the door and turned to hand the hand the items off to Mei. “You two are free to enter now.” Jack grinned smugly as Jesse came in with his face red as a cherry while Mei and Genji kept laughing at the reception desk. When did he sneak past him?

 

Jesse huffed as he put an arm on the reception desk and narrowed his eyes at Mei. “I don’t care if you all give me shit but I better see those two back in mint condition when I leave, alright?”

 

“Don’t harass my staff, Jesse McCree.” Jack lightly swatted Jesse’s bushy hair as Genji was practically crying from how hard he and Mei were laughing. Jack was SO giving him shit on purpose to entertain Genji. “Also, you let your hair grow out again. You know how Gabe feels about fishnets.”

 

“I didn’t come home and suffer through jet lag to be harassed by you, Jack!”

 

“Nah. You’re right.” Jack finally straightened up before giving Jesse a pat on the shoulder. “You had an excellent first semester of college and knocked my expectations out of the park. Jesse McCree, honor roll student.” He smiled proudly as the twenty-one year old brushed the sleeves of his checkered flannel shirt against his eyes.

 

“You’re getting mushy on me against, Jack.” He sniffed before turning to wave at Genji to come over to him. Genji shyly left the comfort of the reception desk to walk over to Jesse’s side. “This is Genji Shimada. He’s the one who really made it possible, Sir.”

 

“Pretty sure I’ve heard your name before.” Jack joked as he offered Genji his hand and Genji bashfully took his hand to shake it firmly. “Thanks for being a friend to Jesse and supporting him out in Hawaii for us. The name’s Jack Morrison. Welcome to our aquarium.”

 

Mei happily clapped her hands together rapidly as tears rolled down her cheeks, making everyone involved flush from how moved she was by the scene. Jack reached down to take out a handkerchief and walked over to the reception desk to offer it to Mei while Jesse and Genji had a moment to talk.

 

“Geez. You weren’t kidding when you said they were your family.” Genji whispered to Jesse as he gestured to Jack and Mei. Jesse just smiled lopsidedly as he ran a hand to smooth out his hair.

 

“Yeah. Was rough carving my own place here but it’s worth it.” Jesse remarked proudly as he watched Jack come back over to them and gently clapped Genji on the shoulder.

 

The Japanese trendster tensed up from the familiar contact as Jack gave him a smile. “Let me give you a tour of the place before we show you where the magic happens, Genji. Just so you get an idea of the layout and our history here.”

 

“What about Jesse?” Genji asked as he looked over to see him getting a keycard from Mei at the reception desk.

 

“He’s got some catching up to do. We’ll meet up with him after the tour, alright?”

 

\--

 

Gabriel was nervous. Okay, he was a nervous wreck right now as he darted back and forth trying to stay focused on his early morning tasks. Jack purposely kept his task list for the day considerably smaller than what he was used to and he kept looking at the time on his tablet rather than actually working once the clock started counting down the hour until Jesse would arrive at eleven. If he didn’t sleep in, that is.

 

It was fifteen minutes to the hour when Gabriel finally was able to focus enough to finish a few of the simple tasks before he heard a splash come from the surface. No one was scheduled to come into the tank before noon and Jack already swam with him in the morning. Lucio was on for the late afternoon shift since they assumed Jesse would want to do the noon feedings while he was home and so Gabe rolled his eyes and assumed someone dropped something heavy into his tank by accident. He began swimming upwards from the bottom of the tank and started to see something actually moving towards the surface. Did someone fall in on accident? He made sure all the sharks were accounted for on the bottom of the tank before picking up speed through the kelp fields to help out whoever fell in.

 

He never expected to see a stripped zebra wetsuit; That meant someone came into the tank on purpose and had access to the lockers. He breached the surface and pushed his black hair out off the way to chastise whatever idiot purposely was fucking around in his tank before a mouthful of water was spat into his face.

 

“Hey Gabe!” Jesse chuckled as he tucked the wild bits of brown hair back under his swim cap, showing that he hastily threw the damn thing on without even putting on any other scuba diving equipment other than his goggles that sat on his head. “Miss me?”

 

Oh. He was livid for the several major rule violations his dumb cowboy ass made to get into his tank but he merely swam over to the small lift Jack installed to place the tablet in a safe place before swimming back over to Jesse. He looked at the lift curiously and looked around to see if anything else new was put into the tank before Gabriel sighed. “Seriously, Jesse? You’re looking for the new toys Jack installed?”

 

“Naw. I can look later.” He chuckled as he closed the gap between him and Gabe to wrap his arms around Gabriel’s neck and kissed him affectionately. “You, on the other hand…” Jesse winked playfully as Gabe rolled his eyes before giving the cowboy a moment to take a breath before pulling him underwater to kiss him. 

 

Gabriel let Jesse’s hands run through his hair as he showed his lover how much he really missed him that instant messages couldn’t convey properly. Gabe’s hand wrapped around Jesse’s waist to pull him in close and re-angled his lips to deepen the passionate kiss between them. He kicked his tail to allow them to breach the surface again when he felt Jesse struggle slightly and let their mouths part to let him breath. His cowboy was out of breath a bit earlier than he could usually handle and Gabe quirked a brow at Jesse playfully.

 

“I’m guessing that tan wasn’t from swimming in the ocean?”

 

Jesse chuckled as he rested up under Gabe’s chin and let his arms lightly rest on his shoulders while Gabriel kept their head afloat above the water. “Naw. Those waves are world reknown for a reason, Gabe. But if you were there? Then I might brave that mean mistress of an ocean.” He smiled.

 

It warmed Gabe right up to hear Jesse’s laugh and feel him press up against him again. The heat lamp was a good substitute but the warmth that ran through Gabriel was that of adoration for his reckless cowboy. Okay. Maybe he wasn’t as reckless enough to swim in waters he wasn’t used to but he was still keeping an eye out for wild merfolk and that in itself was pretty stupid. His heart was racing from the rush of being reunited with Jesse and he could hear the rapid beat of his lover’s as well. Gabe slowly maneuvered himself onto his back so Jesse had a place to rest his head on his chest while they talked.

 

“Tell me more about the ocean, Jesse.” Gabe murmured softly Jesse kicked his feet to propel them slowly around the surface of the tank. Jesse looked at him concerned for a moment and paused his feet below the water.

 

“Do you really want to go back, Gabe?”

 

“What? No! What good is it to put me back in the ocean when I have a fancy degree hanging on the wall here?” Gabe laughed. “I can’t have people forgetting us merfolk exist, right?”

 

Jesse sighed in relief as he chuckled along with Gabriel. “As beautiful as the ocean is, I don’t want to think about ya gettin’ hurt out there again, Gabe. Even if Angela managed to build you a new fin.” His finger clutched Gabe’s sides a bit more firmly as he was clearly distressed by the thought of Gabe leaving. Period.

 

“Joking about a beach trip is different than actually doing it, Jesse.” Gabe huffed as he brought a hand out of the water to flick his lover in the forehead. “I’m not leaving, okay?”

 

“Is that because we won’t let you go? Be honest with me, Gabe.” Jesse choked as he clearly had been thinking about such a ridiculous thought for a while now. Gabe righted himself in the water and held Jesse tightly in his arms as Jesse buried his face in his shoulder.

 

“No. I don’t want to go back to the ocean, Jesse. Jack offers me freedom each New Year’s Day and I brush it off because it’s a stupid concept. I’m safe here and I never have a boring day with my coworkers around to hound me. Does the help?” Gabe answered as he gently pushed Jesse away from his shoulder so he could look at him, even as his big-hearted cowboy tried to rub his tears away with fucking salt water on his hands. He rolled his eyes and pulled Jesse back to let him work out his emotions against his shoulder while wading around in the water. Why did Jesse let it bother him so much? The ocean was a big playground that he enjoyed in his youth but his tail getting mangled up and his almost death by poachers woke him up to the realities of the world. It was safer to work along side with humans than it was to play in the open sea. He understood that many merfolk hated the idea and would probably hate him by extension since he basically revealing their existence as a fact rather than fiction.

 

He also hated the idea of leaving Jack and Jesse; That was mostly it because he was a soft idiot at the end of the day too. It’s waaaay too late to even consider leaving them, especially Jesse.

 

“WOOOO! GO GET EM, JESSE!” 

 

Gabe immediately shoved Jesse’s head under the water reflexively in embarrassment as he looked up and saw Jack and Genji sitting on the rubber platform together. Jack had his hands pressed together, begging Gabe for forgiveness as the asian next to him was pumping his fist in the air and excitedly whooping, cheering them on. Gabe pondered quickly if he could kill himself by jamming sand in his gills and suffocate by filling his human lungs with water for the moment as Jesse shoved his hand away underwater. The cowboy gasped for breath as he clung instinctively to Gabe, trying to catch his breath as he glared harshly at Gabriel.

 

“What the fuck was that for, Gabe?!”

 

“You still insist on clinging to me with your friend up there watching?!” Gabe shot back as he jabbed a talon in Genji’s direction. Jesse’s face was already a dark red from embarrassment but he wrapped his arms around Gabe’s shoulders and pulled himself in closer.

 

“I don’t know what your problem is but I ain’t shy of lovin’ you!” Jesse declared boldly to his lover, making Gabe’s barbed spines on his back stand up fully erect in embarrassment. Gabe looked away with a disapproving frown but wrapped his arms around Jesse’s waist to pull him closer. 

 

“You’re a fucking idiot.” He muttered to Jesse, drawing a chuckle from the cowboy as the peanut gallery above them cooed happily at the sight. Jack was mortified by the sight and clearly was feeling secondhand embarrassment even though he had no fucking right to feel that way, in Gabe’s view. He narrowed his eyes at Jack. “Hey! Why don’t you get your suit on and go swim with Hanzo if our ‘mushy’ affection is too much for you, Grandpa!?”

 

Genji’s eyes widened as he did a double-take at Jack, who was completely red from the neck upwards. “No way!” Genji snorted as he covered his mouth with his hands, trying to restrain his glee. “Jack Morrison is a merfolk lover too?!”

 

Jack grabbed Genji by his collar and brought him in close as he narrowed his eyes at the youth coldly. “You fucking tell ANYONE, Kid, and I’m throwing you into the shark tank. GOT IT?!”

 

Genji held up his hands defensively in front of him as he nodded his head rapidly.

 

“Good.” Jack released him before turning around and sighing as he pinched the bridge of his nose. Gabriel was laughing up a storm below in the water at Jack’s misery, like usual, while Genji looked down pleadingly at his friend.

 

“S-so! Jesse!” Genji scooted over to the edge of the platform and let his feet hang down just barely and inch above the water as Jesse swam over to better hear his friend. “What’s the deal with the get up? Zebra stripes all the rage in the Marine Biology field?” He asked, trying to get his nerves collected while Jack was busy typing on his phone; No doubt the aquarium chat room was buzzing with the staff wanting a play by play while they were asked to stay out of the maintenance area unless they had work to do there.

 

Jesse smiled as he gently pulled on the rubber suit on his chest and gave it a playful snap. “This? You ain’t never heard of the studies they did way back when to make the waters safer for surfers?” Genji shook his head with a blank look as Jesse gave him a toothy grin. “Shark lesson 101 time then, Partner! Most shark attacks happen because sharks have shit eye-sight and when you look at a surfer paddling on his board, his silhouette looks similar to that of a seal; a shark’s natural prey! So what do the stripes do? They mimic the patterns of poisonous fish sharks normally steer clear of! So, when you’re in the tank, you gotta wear the anti-shark suit! Make sense?”

 

“Oh! That’s so cool!” Genji clapped his hands together as he looked down at Jesse enviously before blinking in confusion as he look a bit out to see Gabriel watching them. “I’m guessing it doesn’t apply to merfolk then?”

 

“Nope. Merfolk are as sharp and clever as humans so I guess the wild ones can still bite you if they like?” Jesse turned curiously around to look at Gabriel for confirmation as he rolled his eyes and swam over to Jesse at the ladder. Genji was awestruck at the beauty of Gabriel’s form; the beautiful, curved barbs that laid relaxed against his back starting from his mid-back downwards, the soft browns of his scales and his wavy prosthetic tail fin. He paused at that part as Gabriel grabbed onto the ladder next to Jesse and looked up at Genji.

 

“Yeah. Merfolks are usually territorial biters.” Gabriel lifted his arms out of the water so Genji could lean down and see the plethora of scarred bite marks on his arms before retracting it back into the water. “They don’t go for the throat unless you’re going for the throat but I rarely saw that kind of action out in the Pacific when I was younger.” He explained. “Our numbers are spread out enough as it is throughout the ocean due to poaching and dwindling fish populations through the fishing industry that territory disputes are usually just assholes in the same school hazing each other for dominance.” Gabriel shrugged his shoulders casually as he spoke. “I was more interested in sun bathing on the beach rather than pointlessly wasting my energy through petty squabbles. It’s what helped me become interested in humans; Seeing them walking the beaches peacefully rather than in the boats intentionally hunting for our prey or ourselves.”

 

“Woah. Is that why you’re working with mankind as a world renowned Marine Biologist, Mr. Reyes?” Genji asked excitedly, drawing a rare smile from the humanoid next to Jesse. Jesse was happy as hell to see Gabriel opening up to his friend and giving him the biography of his life that Jesse never tired of hearing from his lover. Gabriel was an educator, first and foremost, before he was a stubborn slave-driver in the tank; It always warmed Jesse’s heart to see him passionately talking about the ocean and his personal experiences. He wanted to be as heart-spoken as Gabriel was when it came to protecting marine wildlife and keeping balance in a human-dominated world.

 

“You could say that. People can’t ignore the words of a genuine IVY League graduate, regardless if he’s an ocean swimmer or not and I do not plan to fail those who look up to me as a hero; Merfolk or Landwalker.” He smiled before looking directly at Jesse and giving him a pat on the head to be an ass.

 

“Hearing this straight from you really helps, Mr. Reyes.” Genji admitted solemnly as he kicked his legs back and forth in thought. “Kind of wish you could come to Japan or China to give the naysayers on the PETRAS ACT a piece of your mind and educate the public about overfishing along with abuses of Merfolk.”

 

Gabe nodded his head as he looked back up at Genji. “You’re the heir to the Shimada Conglomerate, Genji Shimada. You have a LOT more power in helping to shift the minds over there than you think.”

 

The words visibly stung Genji as his face scrunched up from something Jesse couldn’t fathom. Gabriel was still looking up at him as the Japanese man looked away. Was there something there that Gabriel knew that Jesse didn’t? That certainly wouldn’t be a first considering how deep the background checks Jack conducted on everyone coming back into the Maintenance Floor but there felt like there was something Jesse was missing that felt obvious; He just didn’t want to connect the dots for fear of it actually being true.

 

“I couldn’t do anything.” Genji finally admitted as his shoulders started to quake. “Being heir means nothing when you have no power in the past to make things right.”

 

“Genji?” Jesse felt Gabe turn him to face the ladder and gesture his head upwards. 

 

Right.

 

Jesse climbed up the ladder as he saw tears rolling down his friend’s face and wrapping his arms around himself as he got to the top. He pulled himself onto the rubber platform next to Genji and put a hand on Genji’s trembling shoulder. Jesse never saw Genji being anything but happy-go-lucky while he had known him for the past few months at school and this kind of exposure left Jesse heartbroken to see him falling apart. Jack was gone elsewhere, likely in the office since the door was shut and looking down, Jesse couldn’t see Gabe at the surface anymore either. Jesse sucked in a sharp breath before finally letting his thoughts give form to words.

 

“Hanzo is…”

 

“My older half brother. Yes.” Genji murmured as he wiped the tears and snot that rolled down his face with his sleeve. Jesse held Genji tightly to him as his friend sobbed hard against his shoulder and felt his arms wrap around him as he clung to him. God. God fucking damn. No wonder he wanted to come out the the aquarium with him and went balls to the wall prince charming to get Jack to let him backstage. The coincidences added up on why a rich Japanese heir would approach him on day one and try to be his friend regardless of how different they were. He used Jesse but it was clear he still honestly felt that he was Genji’s friend regardless of the circumstances. Jesse could forgive him for that. He was still going to yell at Jack and Gabe for keeping him in the dark about Hanzo’s relationship to Genji though.

 

Jesse rubbed the smalls of Genji’s back as the heir finally pushed away from his shoulder and looked up at Jesse with puffy red eyes. “It’s fine, Genji. We can talk about whatever we need to later.” He reassured him with a gentle pat to the back. “Want to get suited up so we can see your brother?”

 

Genji’s eyes widened happily as he quickly wiped the snot from under his nose before nodding his head. “I’ll do whatever you guys want me to do to make that happen, Jesse. It’s fine if I have to train or something before going into the tank! I’m going to do this properly.” He reaffirmed Jesse as he took Jesse’s hand into his own. Jesse smiled fondly as he reached up and gave Genji’s shoulder a firm pat. 

 

“You see that door right there that says ‘office’?” Jesse pointed to the door in question and Genji nodded his head as he continued to wipe his face off. “Knock on the door and Jack will help you out with whatever procedures are needed to be done so you can go into Hanzo’s tank.”

 

Genji looked back at Jesse in confusion for a moment, quirking a brow at the cowboy. “You’re not coming with me?”

 

Jesse chuckled nervously as he let his hands settle on his legs. “I’m kind of banned from going into that tank, actually. I need to do some negotiations with Gabriel so he won’t kill both me and Hanzo for being in the same tank together.” 

 

Genji’s eyes widened as he recoiled away for a moment. “What the hell did you do to upset him?”

 

“It’s a long. Long. Story. I’ll tell you it when we walk home for dinner, alright?” Jesse sighed.

 

Genji leaned in to look at Jesse suspiciously before narrowing his eyes. “Did you cheat on him with my brother?”

 

“Oh god, Genji!” Jesse groaned as he covered his face with his hands. “It ain’t that at all! Just go talk to Jack and I’ll see if I can get tank access privileges, alright?”

 

Genji pushed himself up onto his feet and took one step forward before looking back at Jesse suspiciously. Jesse sighed and waved his friend off before turning around, pulling his goggles on, and pushing himself off the platform back into the water. Gabe wasn’t in sight as Jesse looked around then down through the foggy kelp fields; salt water was a bitch to see through but a familiar silhouette came up through the haze to meet him. Gabriel was probably working while Jesse tended to Genji and he knew the humanoid would come swimming up the moment he hit the water again. 

 

Gabe’s arms caught him as he swam upwards with him and Jesse happily wrapped his arms around Gabe’s neck as the breached the surface together. The first thing Gabe did was the usual perimeter check to make sure no one was around and leaned back a bit to see if Genji was still hiding out on the platform. Jesse chuckled as he pressed a kiss to Gabe’s cheek. “He’s talking to Jack right now, Gabe. I think we have the tank to ourselves for a bit.”

 

He quirked a brow at Jesse curiously. “He’s going to Jack for tank access?”

 

“Not yours. He’s asking for Hanzo’s.” Jesse quickly corrected.

 

“Good. I’m not letting him in my tank until he goes through the one week shark class with Jack.”

 

It was Jesse’s turn to quirk a brow at Gabriel but he did so with a shit-eating grin. “Is that so?”

 

Gabriel scowled at Jesse for that. “It’s proper procedures. Getting sued by the Shimadas for a shark bite is a real thing, Jesse.”

 

Jesse pouted at that. “So, it’s not because you want to make out in the tank together for a week without worry?”

 

Gabe brought a hand up to smack it to his face while Jesse cackled mischievously. “I swear I’m going to drown you one day, Jesse McCree.”

 

“Nah. You love me too much.” Jesse smirked. He reached down Gabriel’s back to gently run his fingers down the erected barbs on Gabe’s back as he shuddered. “Aww. You’re flushing with your barbs, Gabe. You really do care.” Jesse teased before he felt Gabriel turn them both away from the ladder and Gabe throw him a good few feet away into the water. He hit the surface with a hard splash from how high Gabe tossed him and knocked his goggles off from the awkward impact. Salt water stung Jesse’s eyes as he tried to find the surface and swam upwards to breach with a gasp.

 

“You cooled off yet, McCree?” Gabriel asked as he swam over while Jesse was trying to rub the salt water uselessly out of his eyes with his hands. 

 

“You knocked my goggles off, Gabe! That’s foul play!” Jesse whined before hearing Gabriel groan and a quick splash afterwards before everything went quiet. He strained his eyes to see where the ladder was and started to swim towards it as Gabriel was likely retrieving his goggles. Jesse gripped the ladder and climbed upward before he grabbed the towel he left on the platform to rub the salt water off his face as he sat down on the ladder. He heard another splash from behind him and something firm tap against his back. Jesse reached behind him to take his goggles back from Gabe and started drying off the inside glass with his towel.

 

“Angela should work on that synthetic plastic shit she keeps putting off. It’s a pain to have to deal with you wearing goggles.” Gabe huffed, bringing up Angela’s little pet project to create a reusable and comfortable plastic compound that would give humans an alternative to using goggles and diving helmets. Jesse knew Gabe was just complaining because he could kiss him how he wanted to when they were underwater and the goggles kept getting in the way.

 

“She’s a veterinarian foremost, Gabe. I doubt her having to mother you while I’m in Hawaii is helping her speed the process along.” Jesse shot back playfully before setting the towel back down on the platform and pulling his goggles back on. He then leaned backwards on the ladder, allowing his weight to carry him off and slip his legs off the steps. Gabriel’s chest was what he collided with and he smiled as he felt his lover wrap his arms around his waist from behind to hold him against his body. Gabe was always more skittish about showing affection to him on the surface but he had four feet of privacy wall from where the public could actually see them and the privacy the moving water on the surface gave them from the Maintenance Floor. This was where Gabriel was the most affectionate, even if it was inconvenient as hell to have a pure lung breath for a lover and he had to either deal with the oxygen mouthpiece from the oxygen tank breaking up their kissing or pulling Jesse back up to the surface himself so he could take a breather. Gabe didn’t seem to protest as he kicked his tail to breach the surface with Jesse after a few moments holding him to his chest. Jesse never had to flail away in Gabe’s arms or go to the surface himself when he needed to breath, Gabe pretty much had it down to a science on what Jesse’s comfort level was and how to work that break for air work into the mood he had set with him. The guy really knew how to make breathing romantic.

 

It kind of sucked that Jesse and Gabriel could never get really physically intimate. It would already be a huge violation of the PETRAS ACT and their anatomy didn’t allow for anything to work out in a way that would be pleasurable for either of them; Rows of sharp shark teeth were already dangerous for Jesse to maneuver his tongue carefully over when things got heated between them and things were never good if he accidentally got cut. Blood plus being in a tank with sharks was never a good combination, even with Gabriel killing off the most aggressive ones and Jesse never wanted to put Gabe in that kind of position again where he would personally be forced to cull his shark population. So, he settled for kissing and however creative Gabriel could get; The guy was always mixing things up to keep Jesse hooked.

 

When they came back up for air again, Jesse placed his hands on Gabe’s shoulders, signalling he hand enough or wanted to talk and the humanoid righted himself as they floated together. Jesse’s lips throbbed from the kissing and he no doubt wanted to have more fun with Gabe but he needed to get asking while the asking was good; Gabriel seemed to come down from his high a lot quicker than Jesse ever did, after all.

 

“Gabe. Would it be alright if I went swimming with Genji and Jack in Gen Pop 2?” He asked with a smile as he draped his arms over his lover’s shoulders. “Please?”

 

Gabe’s eyes were still dilated from the kissing but shrunk up and narrowed as he heard the keywords ‘Gen Pop 2’. Jesse leaned in and kissed Gabe’s jaw, starting from below his knife-shaped ear and suckling on the salty skin to draw a sharp breath from his lover. It was a distraction to keep Gabe from getting angry while also allowing Jesse to show him how genuinely serious he felt about his lover. He felt Gabe’s hands wrap around Jesse’s waist as he naturally laid back on the surface, letting Jesse lay on him and showing submission to his lover. That really got Jesse going since it was one in a blue moon that Gabe ever let him lay on his body fully but he had to focus; It wouldn’t be long until Genji and Jack finished doing a tank safety 101 class in his office and he needed Gabriel’s consent on the issue.

 

“Please, Gabe. You can time me on your tablet’s stopwatch and I’ll get out of the pool, no ‘ifs’, ‘ands’, or ‘buts’, when the time is up.” Jesse pleaded sweetly to Gabriel. “We can spend the rest of the time in your pool and I’ll tell you everything I saw in Hawaii. Or we can just nap together while Genji and Jack take their time.” This all had about a seventy percent chance of blowing up spectacularly in Jesse’s face but that was a lot higher of a shot than Gabriel usually gave him. He wanted to see Genji and Hanzo’s reunion with his own eyes and not from the Gen Pop 1 tank from a distance. Genji was his friend and he wanted to be there for him while also being Jack’s back up in case Hana got jealous that no one was playing with her.

 

Gabriel closed his eyes for a moment, and Jesse gently snuck his hands below his shoulders into the water see if Gabe’s sole reliable tell would give him insight on his thoughts. Jesse felt the erect curved spines with his fingers and grinned internally as his chances of negotiating with him successfully skyrocketed. Gabe’s tail fin moved from side to side, compensating for Jesse’s weight laying on him and keeping them both up on the surface as he was contemplating letting Jesse go. Jesse rest the side of his face against Gabe’s chest as he kept quiet, knowing full well that if he said anything or tried to stimulate Gabriel any further he would likely get himself tossed off and put in the shark-equivalent of the doghouse.

 

He instead just relaxed as he listened to Gabriel’s heart pound strongly in his chest along with listening to his human lung set go to work since his face was above water. There was no better placed Jesse wanted to be than right here now with Gabe when he was like this. It made Jesse wonder how actual wild merfolk courted each other and what signs Jesse missed throughout the time Gabe realized his feelings for him. He remembered that moment when they were swimming together side by side a few days after Hanzo was introduced to the Gen Pop 1 tank for training and remembered how confused he was by the whole thing. Maybe merfolk courtship was pretty subtle? Or was Gabe just bad at it in general? He smiled at the thought of the later being most likely for Gabe.

 

“Fine. One hour.” 

 

Jesse just about let out a shriek at the sudden baritone voice interrupting his relaxing moment with Gabe and felt the humanoid’s arms tighten around his waist to keep him steady on top of him. He looked up at Gabriel with a slight flush on his face in embarrassment as his lover looked down at him with an amused smirk. “Falling asleep there?”

 

God he wish he had his hat right now. “Maybe.” Jesse admitted as he shifted on top of Gabe to get comfortable and rebalance himself. “It’s been a while, alright?”

 

“I wasn’t complaining.” Gabe stated simply as he let one of his hands slide up Jesse’s back to slowly rub long circles into Jesse’s back. It was a very affectionate action from Gabriel, one that Jesse would not speak of less Gabriel suddenly backed off from embarrassment of showing it. “I missed you.”

 

“Yeah. It was hard not to think of ya either, Gabe.” Jesse admitted quietly to Gabriel. “The ocean was so beautiful that I kept thinking if I looked away I would see you out there. Dumb as hell but it felt really natural to assume you would always be nearby.” He chuckled bashfully as he spoke his mind to Gabriel. Jesse was waiting for him to call him an idiot and state the obvious that he would return to the ocean for anything like before but Gabriel was oddly quiet.

 

“As flattering as it is to be compared to the ocean, I’d like to think I’m not that cruel.” Gabe murmured as the rubbing Jesse’s back paused. “I do what’s necessary, yes, but if I were as something as almighty as the ocean I wouldn’t have had concern for your life back then when you fell into the tank as a teenager.” He spoke, arms holding Jesse closer to him as he laid his thoughts bare to him for once. “I enjoyed the videos you sent me of you just recording the beach and the waves rolling on the shore. It made it a lot easier to sleep.”

 

“Heh. Looks like I’ll be needing to order some bigger SD cards if that helps ya get a good night’s rest, Gabe.” Jesse smiled fondly as he folded his arms up on Gabe’s chest and rest his chin on top. Gabe smiled back fondly at that and everything felt as it should be between them. “Is there anything else you want me to take long videos of, Gabe? Maybe some video of the tropical forests they have there? Genji and I plan on taking a helicopter ride to see one of the active volcanos on the island.”

 

“Do they let people scuba dive in battleship row at Pearl Harbor?” Gabe asked curious, make Jesse quirk a brow at that.

 

“Probably not since it’s still a war memorial. Maybe Genji and I could see if there’s any diveable wreck near Hawaii that we could take a boat out to. But I don’t think Genji has had diving lessons yet and I sure as hell won’t go out alone to swim around wrecks.” Jesse drawled as thought about it out loud before looking down at Gabe with a smile.

 

“Well. Look who got a few braincells added to the street smart department of his brain.” Gabriel teased with a toothy-grin as he patted Jesse firmly on the back. “Guess sending you away wasn’t a bad thing after all.”

 

Jesse groaned and rolled his eyes. “Come on, Gabe. I’m not that dumb.” He sighed. “Sides, Jack’s Canon isn’t waterproof so it’s not like I could show you what I saw anyways.”

 

“Shame.” Gabe spoke before taking a hand of Jesse’s back to flick him on the nose with his talon. “By the way, Jack and your friend left the office a little while ago so you might want to get going.” 

 

Jesse pushed himself up on Gabe’s chest suddenly, accidentally shoving Gabriel below the surface before he let up and sat back. Gabriel glared at him as he breached the water with his arms crossed over his chest and eyes firmly narrowed at Jesse. 

 

“S-sorry, Gabe!” Jesse spoke quickly as he held his hands up defensively. “I just-!”  
Gabe chucked him over to the ladder and Jesse almost went face first into the side of the tank. “One hour, Jesse McCree!” Gabriel barked at him as Jesse turned to lift his goggles off and flipped off his former mentor before quickly scampering up the ladder in case Gabriel wanted to drag him back into the water to punish him like old times if he kept insisting on throwing him around.


	5. Don't Be An Ass

“I have a question, Jesse.” Genji spoke up as Jesse went into the locker room to trade out towels, tossing the other one into the hamper. Jack was still pulling on his wetsuit as Genji sat on the bench in one of Lucio’s back up wetsuits since no one else was as short as the Shimada heir.

 

“What’s up, Genji?” Jesse asked as he plopped down next to Genji, pulling the wetsuit cap off to take a breather; Maybe he really did need a haircut like Jack joked earlier if his cap was getting too tight. Lucio custom made his own cap with Angela’s help so maybe he would just have to go a size up soon.

 

“Is my brother really happy here?” He asked quietly, taking a peek over at Jack to make sure he wasn’t listening in before looking back at Jesse. Jesse ran his hands through his brown hair to comb it out as he thought about it. 

 

“Well. I don’t really get in the tank anymore since he was moved over there but he seems a lot happier in there now compared to when I met him.” Jesse whispered back. “Jack and Hana always seem to make his day and he does sometimes talk to the custodians and our vet when them come around. You got a look at how huge his tank is right?”

 

Genji nodded his head but still seemed conflicted as his eyes went down to the hands trembling in his lap. He was rubbing them against each other to try to calm himself but it was clear he was nervous about the reunion. Jesse smiled and draped an arm over Genji’s shoulders.

 

“He’ll be happy to see you, Genji. I bet he was watching you the whole time from his own tank when we were talking to Gabe.” He reassured him confidently, watching Genji smile as Jack finished pulling on his gear. 

 

“Here. You know how to use a snorkel, right?” Jack handed Genji goggles with a plastic snorkel attached to the side before he looked up at Jesse curiously. “What’s the verdict?” 

 

Jesse smirked as he gazed up at Jack. “Managed to get me an hour.”

 

Jack looked shocked at first before shaking his head and placing his hands on his hips as he chuckled. “I don’t want to know how you managed to con an hour away from Gabe but nice job.” Jack placed a hand on Jesse’s shoulder before motioning for the two of them to follow him out of the locker room. When Jesse stepped out onto the maintenance room and held the door open for Genji to walk out he watched him pause before following his eyes to see Gabriel watching them on his rubber observation mat that was installed on the side of his tank. Gabe locked eyes with Jesse and motioned for him to come over with a talon.

 

“I’ll be right back.” Jesse apologized sheepishly to Genji and Jack before he scampered over to the side of the tank where Gabriel was watching him. Jack led Genji away towards the Gen Pop 2 tank before Gabriel rest his arm back on the rubber mat. Jesse had to crane his head back a bit to look up at Gabriel as he watched him pick up his tablet next to him on the lift he saw earlier. “Figured you would actually time me on this, Gabe.” Jesse sighed as he shook his head.

 

“Stand still for a minute.”

 

“Why?”

 

Gabe rolled his eyes as he held up his tablet and a flash came from the camera on the back. Jesse blinked the light burn out of his eyes before looking up to see Gabe looking smug as he tucked the tablet under his arm. “Enjoy your hour.” He said pleasantly, making a chill run up Jesse’s spine as he quickly pulled on his wetsuit cap on and tucked the hairs that poked out back under the mask before pulling his goggles back on. Jesse bolted to the Gen Pop 2 tank where Genji and Jack were waiting for him.

 

“What was that about?” Jack asked curiously as he looked at the flushed cowboy’s face before he started to climb the ladder.

 

“Blackmail.” Jesse huffed as he climbed up to the top of the ladder and onto the platform before jumping right in. He didn’t want to see Jack’s face as he laughed and the confusion on Genji’s face as he would ask for clarification.

 

\--

 

Jesse’s embarrassment faded immediately as the bubbles obscuring his vision from his plunge revealed an ecstatic Hana darting towards him from the other end of the pool. He smiled as he held out his arms and let the speed demon plow right into his chest. A heavy splash to his left meant Jack had entered the tank with his diving gear and that meant Hanzo would be over shortly. Jesse swam upwards with Hana happily rolling against him in one arm as he breached the surface. Genji was sitting on the platform like he did when they talked to Gabriel earlier, his expression of deep contemplation was replaced as he saw Jesse pop out of the water with a very vocal seal in his arm.

 

“Come on, Genji! Hana doesn’t bite.” Jesse chuckled as he hooked an arm under Hana and she laid back in his arms while she ‘played dead’. Genji chuckled as he opted to climb down the ladder and enter the water after getting his goggles set in place. She rolled over in Jesse’s arms to excitedly greet the newcomer and dived back into the water to swim circles around Genji. “I’m guessing Jack told you about Hana earlier?”  
Genji nodded his head as he ran a hand over the seal as she came around his front, she darted upward and onto him, knocking him underwater. Jesse laughed as Genji came back up and spat a mouthful of water as Hana laid against him for cuddles. “Wasn’t she from the wild? She’s very affectionate.” Genji managed to chuckle as he leaned back against the ladder for support.

 

“Eh. It’s one of MANY habits she picked up here that make her ineligible to go back out to the wild, other than her being part of a critically endangered species.” Jesse shrugged his shoulders before motioning to the rock platform in the corner of the tank. There was a plastic treasure chest filled to the brim with approved toys that Angela bought for Hana along with several rubber mats laying out on the rock platform. “She’s well entertained in the tank, if you’re concerned at all.”

 

Genji chuckled as Hana insisted Genji pet her and continued to wiggle in his arms until Jesse scooped her off his friend, much to Hana’s annoyance. “Hana, Darlin’. It’s been months and ya’ll ain’t happy to see your pal, Jesse?” Jesse frowned as he held Hana up to face him.

 

“I believe it is your hat she misses the most.” A familiar voice spoke as Hana wiggled out of Jesse’s hands and darted over to play with Jack while Hanzo approached them. Jesse smiled fondly as he saw the regal water serpent weave his way calmly over to them, sitting up right as he look at Jesse before looking at the person clutching the ladder. “Genji?” Hanzo asked carefully, keeping a respectable distance between.

 

“Brother.” Genji sighed in relief as he regarded his half sibling fondly. “Miss me?”

 

Hanzo chuckled at that as he closed the distance between them to embrace his sibling. “Of course.” The parted after a few moments and Genji was back to bracing his back against the ladder as he held onto it with one hand. His eyes looked at Hanzo in awe and held a joy that made Jesse all the more happy he let Genji come with him back to Indiana. 

 

“You look good, Hanzo.” Genji smiled as he gestured to the whole of his brother with his free hand. “I’ve never seen your scales look so colorful, is it the food they give you here?” He chuckled happily as Hanzo ran a hand through his black hair sheepishly.

 

“It is a lot of things working in harmony here and my co-workers are very dedicated.” Hanzo answered.

 

“‘Co-workers’?” Genji repeated curiously as he tilted his head to the side.

 

Hanzo nodded his head before explaining. “I assume you know the unique situation between Ja- the owner of the aquarium and Gabriel Reyes, yes?” Jesse felt a smirk work it’s way onto his lips as Hanzo shot him a quick pointed glare and he immediately made the motion of a zipper being zipped shut over his mouth. 

 

“Yeah. He’s the shot caller of the place along with Jack Morrison.” Genji spoke, apparently not noticing the non-verbal exchange between Hanzo and Jesse as he told his brother what he knew of the hierarchy at the aquarium. Hanzo nodded his head before speaking once again.

 

“I am currently in training to become a spokesperson of the aquarium and as such I am viewed to be a member of the land-walking staff the same as Reyes is currently.” He explained quite happily as Genji’s face lit up from the information.

 

“That’s incredible, Hanzo! Way to stick it to Dad!” Genji shouted happily before holding out a hand to his brother, receiving a high-five in return. Hanzo had a contained smile on his face but Jesse had a feeling he was more pleased than he let his brother on to. Whatever situation that resulted in Hanzo being sent to their aquarium, it wasn’t Jesse’s place to pry but he could see that the bond between them was still stronger than ever. Hanzo then turned his attention back to Jesse as he regarded him.

 

“McCree. Welcome back.” 

 

Jesse felt the heat on his cheeks as he adjusted his goggles. “Yep. Glad to be back. How’ve ya been doin’?”

 

“I managed to touch the bottom of the pool this morning.” He smirked slightly, raising his head in a sense of pride in the accomplishment.

 

Jesse whistled at that. “Look at you, Hanzo. Did ya do it on impulse or while to catch Hana?”

 

Hanzo jaw slacked a bit at that and Jesse felt his own smirk rise at that.

 

“Hana may have had something to do with it.” Hanzo admitted.

 

Jesse looked over at the toy chest for a moment before looking up at Hanzo. “Angela finally approved of a weighted enrichment toy?”

 

“She did. Yes.”

 

Jesse huffed at that as he crossed his arms over his chest. “Great. You guys couldn’t wait until I got to the aquarium before introducing a new toy to her?”

 

Hanzo chuckled softly at that before clearing his throat. “Jack Morrison may have recorded it. You should ask him.”

 

Jesse smirked as he took the hint and gave the two brothers a little wave. “I’ll go do that. Let me know if ya need anything, alright?”

 

“Alright, Jesse!” Genji smiled as he waved back at Jesse, the two of them going back to talking about whatever as McCree started to swim over to the middle of the pool.

 

Jesse took a breath and looked around in the water for signs of Hana and Jack. Jack likely went down under the water for a moment to keep an eye on Hana cause he was a worrywort. Jesse kicked his feet a bit harder than he would usually need to swim on the surface, trying to grab Hana’s attention before she came speeding up at him like a bullet. She collided with Jesse’s chest, nearly knocking the wind out of him as he balled up from the pain; That was going to bruise, no doubt about it. He finally forced himself to surface and gasped for a breath of air before several bubbles came up next to him. Jack breached the water and took the mouthpiece out as he looked Jesse over sympathetically.

 

“You alright?”

 

“It’s been awhile since I’ve taken a Hana Special to the chest, Jack. I’ll be fine.” Jesse wheezed as he put a hand on Jack’s shoulder to steady himself while the other held his throbbing wound. Jack sighed as the seal in question popped up next to him, none the wiser that she hurt one of her handlers. He purposely pushed her away when she rubbed up against Jack for pets and looked back to Jesse.

 

“Sorry bout that, Jesse. Hanzo’s been doing a good job of getting her to stop the ‘specials’ but I guess you being back in the tank plus Genji made her very excited.” Jack apologized. Jesse waved his free hand dismissively towards his boss.

 

“It’s fine. I understand that more than anyone else.” Jesse coughed before giving Jack a reassuring grin. “Lots of people miss me.”

 

Jack rolled his eyes at that more on reflex than in mockery. “Pretty sure that’s obvious with Gabe since he’s giving you more distance with the leash.” He commented with a knowing smirk, drawing a laugh out of Jesse.

 

“Well, the leash extended all the way to Hawaii so I reckon he’s too lazy to roll up all the excess lead.” Jesse grinned as he rubbed the back of his head. “Hanzo was rather talkative too before he pushed me over here with you.” 

 

“Yeah?” Jack leaned over to look past Jesse to see the two brothers talking to each other over by the ladder before looking back at him. “I’m guessing things are going well with the reunion?” He asked, clearly concerned over Hanzo’s well being like he always was; It was a feeling Jesse understood very well.

 

“Genji’s obviously open water wery but other than that he took to Hana well and vice versa.” Jesse spoke. “Always a good way to get Hanzo to open up by being nice to Hana, right?”

 

Jack chuckled pleasantly at that and Jesse really started to realize how much he missed the aquarium, especially confiding in Jack. He really was like a father at times but a lot different since they both found love at work, even if their situations were flip-flopped. Whatever the word was for ‘best friend/father’ that was pretty much Jack to Jesse.

 

“So. How are you and Hanzo doing?” Jesse asked with a mischievous eyebrow wiggle. Jack huffed at that and shoved Jesse’s hand off his shoulder.

 

“We’re doing fine.” Jack answered vaguely.

 

“You two have some mouth to mouth yet?” Jesse pressed further before Jack shot him one of his cold glares.

 

“You should be grateful that I scrub the camera footage of you and Gabe on the security tapes, McCree. Don’t push your luck.” 

 

Jesse held his hands up defensively as he tensed up. “Alright! I’ll drop it!”

 

Jack pushed his mask up on his head and pinched the bridge of his nose as he sighed. “It’s a slow process, Jesse. You and Gabe had years to figure out your feelings while Hanzo and I are still getting to know each other, alright?”

 

Jesse frowned at that but knew it very much was the truth. Hanzo was still recovering from his decades of abuse and it would be wrong for Jack to try to do anything like make a move on him. Though that reaction from Hanzo earlier was kind of telling that their might be mutual pinning going on in this tank. That wasn’t any business he felt comfortable sticking his neck into since he wasn’t around much anymore to know where everyone was except for him and Gabe. Speaking of Gabe.

 

“Gabe! How much time do I have left?!” Jesse shouted loudly, hoping that Gabe wasn’t actually working underwater and he was making an ass of himself.

 

“Fifteen minutes!” Gabe shouted back almost instantly and Jack put a hand on Jesse’s shoulder as he started to keel over laughing. 

 

Jesse rubbed the back of his neck as he felt his face turn red after turning around to see the Shimadas were staring in his direction with Jack slapping the water as he wheezed. How long had Gabe been waiting around on the surface of the water in his tank anyhow? Didn’t he have anything better to do than to wait for him?

 

“He’s got it so bad, Jesse.” Jack laughed as he brushed the tears away from the corners of his eyes.

 

“What is funny about Reyes yelling, Jack?” Hanzo asked he slid up next to Jesse curiously and looked at Jack with concern. This was almost too pure for Jesse to handle as he brought a hand up to cover his snickering.

 

“You know about Jesse and Gabriel, right?” Jack asked.

 

Hanzo nodded his head, making Jesse’s face heat up something bad from the embarrassment. Fucking figures Jack told him fucking everything they did.

 

“Gabe missed him and he’s not even trying to hide it now.”

 

Hanzo quirked a brow curiously before looking back at Jack.

 

“I do not see why that is hilarious. Reyes is not the best at expressing himself but mockery seems to be rather tacky in this situation, Jack.” Hanzo deadpanned.

 

Now it was time for Jesse to laugh at Jack as he went red in the face by being unintentionally chastised by his crush. Hanzo looked at Jesse in confusion and Jack pinched the bridge of his nose firmly as he sighed hard.

 

“What’s so funny, Jesse?!” Gabe yelled.

 

“I’ll tell you when I get back over there, Gabe!” Jesse managed to holler back before Jack shoved his head underwater.

 

“Don’t listen to him, Gabe! He’s being an ass!” Jack childishly yelled back.

 

Jesse gasped loudly as he managed to get out from under Jack’s hand to surface, clutching onto Hanzo to get his bearings. “GABE! JACK’S TRYING TO DROWN ME!”

 

“Do you deserve it?!” Gabe shouted back, critically wounding Jesse’ pride even further as Jack was back to wheezing; He could even hear Genji laughing from all the way over at the ladder.

 

“Hanzo, why can’t a fella catch a break around here?” Jesse sighed as he buried his face into Hanzo’s shoulder.

 

“Because you’re the only source of entertainment around here?” Hanzo smirked lightly as Jesse narrowed his eyes at him as he lifted off his shoulder.

 

“Thanks, Jackass.” He huffed, pushing away from Hanzo and pulling his goggles down to cover his eyes as he began swimming away from the two of them back to the ladder. Genji moved over curiously as Jesse climbed up the ladder and onto the platform next to him before sighing. “I’m gonna get something to drink in the locker room if ya need me, alright?”  
“Yeah. Sure. I needed a little break from the water anyways before I go back in too. I’ll let the others know.” Genji smiled and Jesse gave him a pat on the shoulder. Gotta trust Genji to understand a man’s limits. Jesse stood up and headed down the ladder not even stopping to see if Gabriel was at him post on the side of the tank before walking over to the locker room door. He opened it up and closed it right behind him before letting out a huge sigh.

 

Jesse was going to need a little breather from everyone tormenting him and he figured he had maybe ten more minutes before he would start the noon feedings with Gabriel in Gen Pop 1. He pulled off the wetsuit cap off his head and headed over to the mini fridge they had to pull out a bottle of water before plopping his ass down on the bench. Jesse set the cap down on the bench next to him before twisting off the cap and taking a long drink from it. He could feel his hair sticking to his face and shoved it out of the way before putting the cap back on the bottle. Jesse set it down on the bench before getting up and heading over to his locker to open it up. He grabbed the brush he had sitting next to his phone and noticed the notification light was blinking. McCree ran the brush through his hair as he picked up his phone to unlock it and see that he had a new email sent from Gabriel’s personal account.

 

Jesse rolled his eyes as he opened the email and downloaded the attachment as he continued to brush his hair out.

 

Subject: Is this what they call ‘bed hair’?

 

Body: Your hair has gotten longer. I like it. You look manlier.

 

Jesse grumbled as the picture Gabriel took with his tablet showed up after it finished downloading and saw how bad the cowlick was. He pressed his forehead to his locker door as he groaned and slumped against it. Yeah. It was definitely blackmail material now but it had Jesse pausing as he read the last sentence over again.

 

‘You look manlier’.

 

Gabe thought he was more attractive now? The thought made him smile fondly as he turned off his phone and turned towards the mirror on one of the wall. His hand trailed over his face, thinking about Gabe and his beard for a moment before he touched his chin. Maybe the idea would be worth pursuing once he went back to college and didn’t have to deal with him mother barking at him to shave. She already gave him hell on growing his hair out a bit but her opinion wasn’t the only one that mattered anymore.

 

He smiled as he finished brushing out his hair before placing his phone and brush back into his locker. Jesse closed it and looked down at the wetsuit cap on the bench before walking by it to pick up his water bottle along with his goggles. He figured his little breather was over now and he could get back into the action with renewed vigor, especially now that he had a plan in place. Jesse finished drinking the water and tossed the bottle into the trash before walking over to start prepping his scuba gear.

 

\--

 

It was noon when Jack took Gabe’s tablet for it’s usual recharge in exchange for his meal. He had gotten used to eating dead, medicine stuffed chunks of meat but at least they always changed it up once and awhile so he wouldn’t get bored. Gabriel tore through the huge chunk of meat as he pulled it under water, absolutely ravenous today. He figured having Jesse around improved both his energy levels and brought his appetite back with him now that he could see with his eyes that his lover was safe. The meat tasted extra good as he slowed down to better savor it and glanced over to his left as Jesse dropped into the water. Gabriel turned away from Jesse, continuing to eat his food before he had to do a double take. 

 

Jesse McCree was in the water without his cap on.

 

Now, Gabe had a reason to watch him as he quickly finished up his meal and swim towards him.

 

\--

 

Reinhardt happily handed the meat bucket to Gabriel after he handed Jesse the first bucket of fish feed. Jesse brushed the brown hair that clung to his goggles away before plunging down into with Gabriel. He felt Gabe’s eyes on him as they swam downwards together past the kelp field before Gabriel broke away from him to go to his corner to feed the sharks. Jesse’s face had to be bright red from how much he was smiling as he landed on the sandy bottom of the tank and started to reach into the bucket to toss the fish feed upwards above him. He could hear the booming bass of Jack speaking into the mic from the speakers but couldn’t exactly make out the words as Jesse was mesmerized by the schools of fish that whipped around him to get at the food he was tossing. His heart was racing as he remembered how much he missed the noon feeding times and all the fish rapidly swirling around him. Jesse glanced over at Gabriel and realized he was looking in his direction. He hadn’t swam in the water without his cap on since they both had their first kiss so Jesse hoped it would stir some feelings in Gabriel as they both resumed focusing on feeding the fish and sharks respectively.

 

The crowd he could see was huge today and he could even see Genji waving at him by the glass as their eyes locked onto each other. He waved back to Genji before emptying the last bits of fish feed in his bucket before heading up to the surface with his head held up high. Gabriel was fielding questions from the audience as Jesse could hear his deeper voice booming through the speakers and felt himself smiling. He wondered if Genji was having fun during the presentation as he went up through the kelp fields and finally breached the surface to hand the bucket to the waiting Reinhardt.

 

“Welcome back!” Reinhardt chuckled before handing Jesse the second feeding bucket. “We have a bigger crowd than usual today! It’s not even schools or a corporate party either!”

 

Jesse took his mouthpiece out as he took the bucket and held onto the ladder. “Yeah? I reckon that’s pretty swell, Partner.” He chuckled before brushing his hair out of view of his goggles. “Thanks for helping us out as always, Big Guy.”

 

“No problem! Have fun with the fishes!” Reinhardt chuckled before Jesse put his mouthpiece back in and started swimming back towards the bottom. Gabriel was still fielding questions from an especially curious audience as Jesse past through the kelp field and reached his spot a few moments afterwards. Jesse went back to happily tossing the fish food up into the air and watching the schools of fish come back around for more. One of Gabe’s sharks made a curious pass by Jesse and this time he resisted the urge to touch it, not wanting to be a bad influence anymore by giving the audience the impression that the sharks in the tank were tamed. He did a lot of growing up in Hawaii and realizing what kind of person he wanted to be; Mostly himself but a bit more responsible.

 

Genji again waved at him from behind the glass and Jesse responded by waving back once more. It was the damndest feeling to be friends with a guy like Genji and seeing his change of heart personally as the aquarium worked it’s magic over him like it did to Jesse years ago. Maybe if he could get a certified scuba diving instructor over they could both feed the fish in the tank during spring break together. Jesse could somehow figure out how to slowly get Gabe on board with the idea; He did manage to convince Gabe himself years ago to take Jack’s spot, after all. Jesse looked back at Genji as he tossed another handful of feed into the air. Genji’s back was against the glass as he watched different people line up to ask Gabriel questions, watching them with a smile. 

 

When Jesse finished up with the feeding he went back up to the surface to hand Reinhardt his empty bucket. He was perplexed when he saw how troubled the giant man looked at the second bucket of meat for the sharks and Jesse removed his mouthpiece to get the man’s attention. “Yeah. Gabe’s a bit backed up with the Q&A down there. I’ll take it down to him.”

 

“You sure?” Reinhardt asked nervously as he took Jesse bucket and handed the one with the meat.

 

“Positive. I’ll just drop the bucket away from the school and let Gabe handle it while I hightail it out of there, just in case.” Jesse smiled reassuringly as he took the heavy steel bucket and pulled his mouthpiece back into place. Reinhardt wished him luck once more as Jesse dove down into the water. His eyes looked around for a good clearing as he past the kelp fields and approached the coral reef. There wasn’t a lot of options so Jesse set the bucket down, wedged between two rocks before quickly swimming away, hoping that Gabe would be able to smell it before the sharks went to town on it. 

 

He was back in the clearing where the fish still zoomed around in the zone he was tossing food earlier before he turned around to see the blood from the meat trailing upwards from where he put the bucket. Gabe moved over from where he was answering questions and removed the bucket from the coral, giving Jesse a quick thumbs up in appreciation before heading back to feed his school of hungry sharks. Jesse watched him tossing the chunks of meat up into the water above him so a quick shark snatched the morsel before he placed some of the meat toward the bottom of the tank so the older ones could have their fill as well. It made Jesse happy to watch Gabe do his thing and that he could help contribute where he could to his mentor’s success in everyday life. 

 

Maybe he will grow that beard out after all. Reyes might like a rugged-type land walker in his life rub beards with. It would be a nice surprise when he came home next time though he might need a haircut during the mean-time so it didn’t get too long; He liked being able to pull it back into a nubby ponytail anyways.

 

Jack took the stage once more after Gabriel finished his Q&A session after he heard his voice booming through the speakers again. Jesse watched as Gabriel swam over to him, his heatset down on his shoulders than on his ears, and bucket empty as he pointed up to the surface. Jesse nodded his head and followed Gabriel upwards, making sure to wave to Genji once more before the water got to thick for him to see him. Once they cleared the kelp fields and entered the tinted privacy field Gabriel, caught Jesse’s arm to stop their ascent any further. Jesse look at Gabriel curiously before Gabe made the motion that he was going to take Jesse’s mouthpiece off and Jesse took a deep breath of air before Gabriel went through with it. He then wrapped one arm around Jesse’s waist to pull him in close and angle his head so he could kiss Jesse.

 

Jesse just figured it was Gabriel being impulsive after a meal until he felt his talon run through his hair and shuddered against him. His hair was likely a tangled mess but it felt so good feel Gabriel brush it back and out of his eyes before he popped Jesse’s mouthpiece back into his mouth.

 

Yep. He was TOTALLY going to grow that beard now. No question about it as they swam back up to the surface together and let Gabriel hand Reinhardt back the bucket before turning to look at Jesse with a smile.

 

“Nice job today. Thanks for watching my six.” Gabe happily praised Jesse before giving his nose a flick with his talon. “Go eat something already.”

 

Jesse huffed and rolled his eyes as he took out his mouthpiece to climb up the ladder. “Sure thing, Dad.”

 

He grinned when he felt Gabe grab him and yank him back into the water for that quip.


	6. About Your Folks

“So, what were your parents like, Gabe?” Jesse asked Gabriel curiously as they laid together in his private tank, sun lamp turned down a bit so McCree would be comfortable since he was just in his silly cowboy-themed swim trunks. Genji and Jack were swimming with Hanzo and Hana in gen pop 2 so they decided to start their lunch break a bit earlier today since they got all their tasks done along with the noon feeding. 

“What do you mean?” 

“Like, how exactly do mer-shark families function? Did ya know your pa? You have siblings, etc?”

Gabriel hummed as he laid his head back against the sand bank while McCree laid over him, his arm anchoring Jesse to him by draping lightly over his waist. Both of them had their hair tied back into ponytails to keep it out of the way and Jesse wanted to put his hair up anyways. Who was he to deny his boyfriend from grooming him, in a way?

But, thinking back that far, when he was wild and free to do whatever he wanted…

“Well, I was the oldest of a litter of four mer-shark children.” He explained as Jesse folded his arms on Gabe’s chest and set his chin down on them to get comfortable. “My mom was really nice and my dad was a mischievous asshole from what I remembered but he never did it out of maliciousness but it really helped teach us indirectly to deal with other aggressive mer-sharks. Teaching us through play, you know.”

“Like what? Any examples?”

“Oh boy. Uhh… How to take blows to the body by tensing up properly before impact? He would charge at us fast and then tickle whoever he caught. Never got physical with us because we were so small but it was super important that we learned to properly guard against body blows. Another one was how to get someone off you if they grabbed your gills.”

Jesse winced at that and Gabriel had to nod his head in agreement.

“Yeah, not fun stuff having your gills touched but it was a super important lesson nonetheless.” 

“Was your dad around the whole time you were with your mother and siblings?”

“Maybe for the first five years before his attention was started to be drawn elsewhere since territory disputes were always on both of my parent's minds. Then he would be gone for half the day before coming back in the early evening hours to hunt with us and mom. Mer-sharks are polyamorous by nature but my dad stuck by my mom since she was his oldest partner and been with her the longest. Aggressive females are terrifying so holding good nesting grounds is a daily struggle that she couldn't really handle. I'm pretty sure we were her last litter because I didn't get push away from the nesting ground until I was sixteen, while my siblings all left when they were around nine or ten. Her and I spent most of the time drifting on the surface like a pair of otters; we were kind of lazy and just enjoyed nice days after we ate a meal.”

“it was common to leave the nest that young and stay as long as you did with your mother?”

Gabriel hummed at that as he idly tapped Jesse’s side with his hand. 

“Unlike human children, we didn't have to go to school or learn how to operate machines and the like. We just lived off whatever was in the water so it was mostly up to the parents when they wanted the kids out. My siblings mostly left because that’s where their curiosity took them and they knew how to defend themselves and hide. Kind of a ‘call of the wild’ situation. I just never felt like leaving and protected the territory sometimes with my father while the rest of the day was spent sun bathing with my mom. Dad wasn't too keen on exposing his belly to the surface.”

“I could see why. Weren't you afraid of boats?”

Gabriel shrugged his shoulders. “Not really. We were pretty far out and away from a shipping lane with the lack of contact we had with humans. My dad didn't like his belly being exposed in general but I think it was because he was ticklish and didn't want the birds landing on him to give that secret away. When I eventually did leave my parents, it was due to me wanting to find warmer water and my mom told me how to do so.”

Jesse rolled his eyes. “Figures.”

Gabriel lifted his free hand to flick Jesse lightly on the nose.

“Shush. Anyway, spent several years swimming around from place to place, had a couple of kids with a nice mer-shark lady I met then ended up in Florida where I eventually met Jack. Spent a lot of time beaching myself in the warm sand and talking to humans who were curious.”

Jesse’s eyes widened in shock as he reeled back. “You had KIDS?!”

“Yeah.” Gabriel smiled warmly. “Just one pair of twins. Very loveable, chubby-cheeked monsters. They would have loved you, Jesse. One hundred percent sure about that.”

Jesse was taken back by that and the way Gabriel softened as he remembered his kids.

“What about the lady mer-shark?” He asked nervously.

“I don't live in the ocean nor follow the old ruleset anymore, Jesse. I love you and that’s not something that’s going to change just because I talked about my one-time mate and the kids we had together, alright?” Gabriel reassured him, having a feeling Jesse might get the wrong idea about why he would tell him that. 

“So, you’re bisexual?”

“Yes. But, that doesn't mean I'm interested in anyone else. Got my hands full with you right now and I don't expect that to change. Does that make you feel better?”

Jesse frowned and nodded his head before placing his head back on his arm pillow over Gabe’s chest.

“Just kind of weird hearing that you were with someone before Jack and had kids with them, is all.”

“The ocean is a different society, Jesse. I conform to human standards and expectations since I'm an educator and conservationist. Does that help you understand me a little better now? Especially with the different expectations between merfolk and human societies? I’ll explain anything you want.”

Jesse stayed quiet for a few moments as he tried to figure out what exactly he wanted to say. It was just a lot to take in and he hadn't had a romantic relationship on this level with anyone but Gabriel. The experience gap was growing wider the more he looked at it.

“You just… Left your kids and your mate?” 

“I was asked to leave three years into raising the kids with her when her primary mate came back. It wasn't awkward or anything for us. She wanted to have kids and I happened to have the ability to give her that. Her primary partner was female so it’s not like bisexuality or homosexuality is looked down on. I know the twins were raised with love and affection with that woman and her partner so I don't have any regrets with leaving them. We’re a polyamourous species, remember?”

“I just… I feel like you were really happy havin’ kids and I can't give ya that.” Jesse admitted quietly to Gabriel. Gabriel brought his free hand up and gently began to run it through Jesse’s hair affectionately.

“What makes me just as happy is seeing you going to college and fulfilling your dream, Jesse McCree. I wouldn't be too disappointed if I don't get the chance to raise children again but managing an aquarium is pretty similar in terms of responsibility load. I’m happy when you are, alright? You make life here a lot more enjoyable.” Gabriel smiled confidently.

Jesse chewed on the inside of his cheek as he felt his face heat up under that honest admission from Gabriel. A bashful smile on his lips. “Don't give me that, Gabe.”

Gabriel chuckled in amusement as he cupped the side of Jesse’s face with his hand. “Can't a guy be honest about his feelings for once in his life?”

“Yeah… I’m just embarrassed, is all.”

“Sorry.”

“No, you’re not.” Jesse chuckled.

“Yeah, caught me there.” Gabriel smiled. “Anything else have you curious, Jesse?”

Jesse paused as he threw a few ideas around in his head for a bit before settling on one. “What exactly happened to your tail? I know it was a bad run-in with a fishing net but Jack never went beyond saying that.”

Gabriel rolled his eyes at that. “Figures Jack cuts corners on stories that involve him being a hero. I’ll give you the full details then since he won’t. So, I told you that Jack and I met in Florida, right? That was about five years ago. He finished up his Master’s around that time and was taking a break with his professor who had a house out on the beach. Guess who loved rolling up on that particular strip of private beach?”

Jesse smirked. “You, I’m guessin’?”

“Bingo. Jack and I would just lay together and talk after he got over his initial excitement of meeting a ‘real’ merfolk. It was weird cause I thought humans were just merfolk with split tails that didn't die? Jack laughed so hard at me for saying that. He was and still is an asshole.” Gabriel grumbled as Jesse snickered into his arms. “Anyways, Jack and I just sun bath together for maybe three days before the net incident happens. There must have been merfolk messing with the local fishermen's nets because I’m swimming back to my cove when a fucking steel net was dropped right on me. Instead of trying to calmly assess the situation, I let instinct guide my actions and got tangled. The boat that dropped the net didn't bother to pull me in but cut it and let the weight trap me on the seafloor. I wasn't in really deep water so I was able to drag myself using my arms and what little motion I could make with my tail to push me forward back to the beach.”

“Jesus Christ.”

“I didn't find out until later how expensive those nets were so the fishermen were so tired of their nets getting cut that they resorted to those damaging nets but they just dropped the net on me and expected me to die. I would have if I didn't drag myself partially onto the beach and tried to sleep until Jack would find me, assuming he would visit the beach again. I had this giant net twisted around me and gravity just made the pain that much more excruciating. Jack actually found me at dawn since he liked to shell hunt and take pictures with his camera so at least I wasn't alone for as long as I could have been. He ran back to get his professor and some pliers to start cutting the netting off while his professor was calling everyone to try to get someone out to help me. My tail fin was already dark when Jack got the excess netting cut free so there was no way we were going to be able to save it and you can't exactly put a merfolk back into the ocean with no tail. Jack was seriously afraid that they would euthanize me because I wasn't considered a human and my English was severely limited. Killing me would be easy, Jesse. I honestly thought Jack was attacking me so I slashed him across the face when he went to touch my tail.”

“So those scars were from your talons?” Jesse cringed slightly from visualizing the damage. 

Gabriel took his hand off Jesse and wiggled the talons playfully in front of Jesse's face before pushing the claw of his index finger to his nose gently.

“Yep. Can't play fair when everything is trying to kill you in the ocean, right? He’s lucky he didn't lose those eyes of his because that was what I was aiming for. I told him I was sorry for putting him in the hospital later when he came to visit with a million stitches on his face.” He admitted, seeming a bit bothered by that last bit more so for hurting Jack in hindsight than anything else.

“So, what happened next?”

“Right. Jack had to be taken to the hospital by an ambulance so it was just me and his professor while the man was practically crying into his phone to get someone to take me in. A merfolk can't go to a human hospital and no vet would know how to handle the ethics of a partial human patient plus foot the expenses. Jack must have said something to him because he was damn persistent to get someone to save me. In comes Angela Ziegler. The only veterinarian in the area that would try to help me. Long story short; I lost my tail and a lot of tissue had to be grafted but I pulled through in the end even if it took me a month to fully recover. The prosthetic tail ended up being part of Angela’s thesis for her Doctorates so she got a grant to make it based on the thesis she wrote up. The one on me right now is Mark 3. I get fitted for Mark 4 tomorrow.” Gabriel proudly spoke as he gently flopped his tail in the shallow water for emphasis.

“Angie still updates the design?” Jesse asked curiously as he sat up and looked over his shoulder to see Gabriel hovering his tail out of the water so he could see it.

“Of course she does. She’s number in the aquatics prosthetic field for a reason and is never satisfied with the flaws she sees in her designs. Mark 4 will make it easier for me to do sharp turns without putting stress on it so much.” He explained with a smile. “I could barely turn with the first prosthetic she put on me but it sort of did the job until she got help on making the Mark 2 from Torbjorn. Notice the pattern of our head staff here at the aquarium?” 

Jesse blinked at that for a moment. Now that he thinks about it…

“Yep. Jack hired everyone and was persistent as fuck getting them too. We’re still trying to get Ana Amari from Egypt though, she’s been holding out forever so she can get her daughter through college or something.”

Jesse looked at him with a brow raised curiously. “What’d she do to help you out?”

“She’s one of first people Angela contacted to ask for advice on anesthesia and medical dosages for merfolk. Apparently, they met at a medical conference once and never lost contact with each other. Amari has a real knack for medical improv that was invaluable with helping me and countless other hybrids to undergo medical care. She helped set the standard by venturing into a realm that smelled like lawsuit hell and came out on top. Of course Jack wants her on the team and we might be getting a visit from her next year.”

Jesse perked up in excitement at that. “Really?!”

“I sure hope so. Maybe Jack will finally shut the fuck up about his perfect dream team once he has Amari in his clutches.” He smirked.

“You think she’ll visit when I’m on break?”

“Dunno. You’ll have to ask Jack. I just take care of his sharks.”

Jesse rolled his eyes at the gross underestimation of Gabriel's job at the aquarium but he knew he was merely joking around.

“Hope you two can meet though. I heard she has a daughter your age going into the avian field. You like birds?” Gabriel asked with a knowing smile.

“They’re okay, I guess.” Jesse shrugged.

“What about hawks?” Gabriel grinned in amusement, watching as Jesse’s eyes widened in excitement.

“Birds of prey?! I’M ALL ABOUT THAT!” Jesse shot up in excitement, making Gabriel chuckle fondly.

“Get me my tablet and I’ll show you her instagra-”

Jesse shot of Gabriel like a lightening bolt, splashing water everywhere as he waded as quickly through the knee-deep water to get the tablet from Gabriel’s ‘needs charging’ bin hooked onto the side of his private tank. Gabriel frowned in minor annoyance at the nest he made being sloppily destroyed on Jesse’s side but he learned to not care about such details nor argue about them with his mate when they only had so much time left to spend together like this. It was just sand, after all. Sand can be replaced and remodeled whenever he desired but Jesse’s love and excitement couldn’t. 

They spent the rest of their ‘tank time’ watching Fareeha’s falconer videos before Jesse had to saunter off to eat lunch with the others. An hour well spent, in Gabriel’s mind.


	7. Christmas Eve (part one)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for not updating in a while! Here's part one of the late christmas/later half of Jesse and Genji's winter vacation trip to the aquarium!

Gabriel was excited when the Christmas party finally came around, having all of the presents delivery a month in advance to allow Jack the time to wrap his plus the one he got for everyone as well. He had Jack put Jesse’s wrapped present into a water tight bag and hid it away in a nook in his grotto, wanting to make sure the cowboy’s present stayed hidden since it was the first holiday celebration they would have together as a couple, not including Jesse’s birthday. It was a new pair of boots that McCree was sure to love as he and Jack had to do some sneaking around with the lockers to get his boot-size before Jesse left for school but it paid off well.

The morning of the Christmas party was when Gabriel quickly dove down from his private pool to his grotto, pulling off the stones he covered the bag in to deter the sharks and other marine wildlife from nibbling on out of curiosity. The packaging still looked dry to him inside of the bag and hustled it up to breach the surface then toss the package into his private pool before pulling himself back up into it. He smiled as he pulled the separation door between the main tank and his private pool closed. Gabriel then maneuvered himself back and forth on his back, after setting the bulky wrapped up box in a bag on his stomach, so he could get to the edge of the pool to prop himself up against the rim.

The lights turning on the maintenance floor usually meant that Jack, or sometimes Angela, were up and ready to get the day started, usually around 8am. Feedings and the like would not happen for another hour until the AM staff came in for work but today was special since they always closed the aquarium to the public on Christmas Eve but make the staff come in as usual for feedings and such since care for the aquarium animals has to be done unless they want everything to die from not being fed. Jack did always let people pick their vacations off as long as they worked other holidays like New Year's and Thanksgiving so other employees could spend time with their families too. Also they always had a party! Plenty of food, booze and non-booze to go around after work was done! 

Jack yawned as he came out in his pajama pants and T-shirt, like he always did before getting dressed thirty minutes later just in case anyone wanted to start work earlier. He went into the break room to start up the coffee machine before wandering back over with a one liter green bottle in his hand while rubbing his eyes with his free hand. Jack came to a stop in front of the tank and twisted the cap off the bottle to open it before lightly tightening it before trading it for huge bag containing Jesse’s wrapped up box of cowboy boots. 

Gabriel cackled quietly as he held the chilled one liter bottle of ginger ale that Jack would always give him as a present for the Christmas party. A drink, like many other human consumables, was outwardly banned from Gabriel’s diet due to the health risks involved. He quickly twisted the top off and chugged a sip before twisting the cap back on as he held it back up to Jack as he smoothly took it from him as Angela came out onto the maintenance floor in her own set of pajamas. Jack had the contraband hidden expertly behind his back as the blonde vet looked over at them with a suspicious glare.

Angela was a REAL hardass on Christmas Eve to Jack and Gabriel. Just as it was tradition for Jack to let Gabe sneak sips of his ginger ale throughout the day, she was watching them both like a hawk and twice as nasty. They both agreed to keep Jesse out of the loop many years ago but he did have a tendency to distract Ziegler with his southern charm while Jack let Gabe snag another quick sip. It was like a game, an extremely dangerous game with Ziegler’s patience and Jack repaying all the shit he gave Gabriel throughout the year by letting him sip the forbidden drink. Reinhardt insisted they try hard liquor one year but even Jack had to agree that would be too risky for Gabe’s stomach. One liter of ginger ale would be sipped sparingly throughout the day to keep the chances of a reaction from happening low and that was all Gabe needed to keep him happy.

“You two are the worst! Why am I playing parent for two men that are older than me?!” Angela groaned as she stomped up to Jack and went to snatch a bottle of ginger ale that he no longer had hidden behind his back. She glared at him as he held up his empty hand and the one holding the bag with McCree’s gift inside.

“Don’t know what you’re talking about, Doc.” Jack smiled innocently and her glare shot straight to Gabriel disapprovingly.

“What?” Gabriel asked as he pretended to be ignorant of the situation taking place in front of him.

She sighed heavily and rolled her eyes at both of them. “Fine! I will allow the ginger ale as long as you both adhere to the guidelines I set up for today only, because I’m sick of always being the bad one for worrying of you bloating, Gabriel! Christmas Eve is the ONLY time you will be allowed to drink any substance that is not water or liquid medicine, is that clear?” Angela spoke firmly and both of them nodded their heads sheepishly in silent agreement. She then held out her hand towards them expectantly. “The bottle, please.” Gabriel sighed as he held the bottle up to her where he had it hidden under the sand in his tank and she plucked it from his hand. “Alright. I will be back with a proper container along with a measuring cup.” Angela spoke as she turned to walk back into the hallway that led to her private apartment.

Gabriel looked at Jack and Jack looked at Gabriel for a good moment.

“You sure our presents will be good enough for what we put her through every year, Jack?” Gabriel asked nervously.

“There’s a reason why she gets the biggest bonus at the end of the year, Gabe.” Jack chuckled nervously. “Pretty sure she won't think of leaving us anytime soon.”

Gabriel sighed in relief and pressed his forehead against the rubber rim of his pool. He got Angela a really nice present this year considering his ‘accident’ he had falling out of his tank a few months ago. Jack did some snooping on his behalf to figure out her coffee machine was wearing out so Gabe bought her a fancy European brand machine he was sure that would make it easier to make better coffee. Jack got her something small so it looked like he valued everyone fairly but her bonus would always be enough to show his appreciation to her.

\--

“Erm. Ya sure that yer really okay with just a huge tub of homemade peanut butter for a present, Genji?” Jesse asked as he got out of the car after his mother put it into park. He had several bags filled with the ever popular boxes individually prepared by his mother and himself for the Christmas Eve party. Genji carried the other set of bags containing the presents Jesse bought for everyone and the three he bought and wrapped himself to take part in the festivities. Christmas was more of a couple’s holiday in Japan but ‘when in Rome, do what the Romans do’ as he argued and he wanted to get Hanzo a gift anyways.

“Of course! I’ve never known how amazing peanut butter was until your mother insisted we put celery in the kind she made! It will be great to eat while we’re rooming together next semester!” Genji chuckled happily.

“Have fun, you two!” His mother hollered happily as she rolled down the window.

“We will Ma! Have fun at yer own party too!” Jesse yelled back as they both watched her drive away.

“Bye, Mrs. McCree!” Genji added happily before turning as Mei opened the door for them and held it open so they could go in sideways with the amount of bags they had on each arm.

Mei locked the door behind them and helped carry a few of the bags for them as they made their way to the aquarium’s party room where several other familiar early morning faces were dropping off their goods for the party. Jack had a cart out with two labeled containers, one for ‘booze’ and the other labelled ‘not booze’, likely for drinks that needed to be refrigerated to be properly enjoyed or needed to be locked up so people wouldn't get funny ideas on stealing the good stuff before the party in the evening. 

“Hey, you two!” Jack greeted them as he leaned against the table next to the ‘to be chilled or locked away’ cart. There was a huge stack of covered containers of food and a table dedicated solely for presents while holiday music played over the speaker system to set the mood. Hell, Jack had a Santa hat on and that must have meant he was in a good mood to be pulling out the Christmas wear this early in the morning. Most of the food and stuff wouldn't be brought in until the evening but people like Jesse didn't have a car just brought it with them and Jack would take care of everything if it needed refrigeration- There were a few covered trays on the bottom shelf of the cart as well.

“Mornin’, Jack!”

“Good Morning, Mr. Morrison.” 

Jack stood up as he held out his hands to take the huge chunk of meat wrapped up in layers of paper and chuckled in amusement at its weight in his arms. “I wonder who this is for.” He smirked knowingly as he looked at Jesse.

Jesse felt his cheeks warm under the teasing and quickly joined Genji as Reinhardt showed him how to stack the paper boxes on the food table while telling the Japanese man of Jesse’s earlier embarrassing exploits. Jack would have to take the deer leg to Angela and get her approval before refrigerating it in the animal food cooler since giving it to Gabriel before the party seemed kind of rude. Jesse only bought from accredited butchers that had good reviews and checked the meat over personally before buying it, Angela rarely ever said ‘no’ to raw meat Jesse brought in for Gabriel if he made sure to check with either Jack or Angela first.

Gabriel really liked eating exotic and gamey meat, it brought some much needed variety to his food since he was usually stuck eating a better cut of whatever was going to be fed to the sharks that day, usually pork or cow meat. He did get to eat salmon on Sundays though, so, it wasn't all too bad of a life in the tank if Jesse brought him fun stuff to eat as a gift. That deer leg would probably last Gabriel a while of Jack rationed and stored it properly. Jesse may be a penniless college student but he was going to get his boyfriend something amazing to eat, even if he had to beg his mother to make Genji the stupid amount of peanut butter that he wanted in exchange for helping him pay for it.

Jesse couldn't wait to go into the back and go swimming with Gabe with no worries of the public catching them hugging or holding each other’s hands under water since the aquarium was closed for the next two days. For now, he went to join Genji and Reinhardt to do damage control as the older German man was likely telling his friend stupidly embarrassing stories.

\--

“Morning, Gabe!”

A familiar voice drew Gabriel out of his nap as he drifted on top of the water in the gen pop one tank and DEFINITELY woke up as Jesse did a fucking cannon ball next to him, getting him absolutely drenched. The snickering cowboy hovered in the water next to him as Gabriel dunked his head back underwater without warning before getting back on his back to float like he was before he was rudely woken up. Jesse spat water out in a comedic fashion before he rested his elbows on his boyfriend’s abdomen.

“Hey, Handsome.” Jesse snickered playfully, drawing an exaggerated sigh from Gabriel as he closed his eyes again.

“I’m surprised you didn't lug a snowball at me.” 

“I only did that once and yer still holdin’ it against me?” Jesse pouted.

“Nah. It was hilarious seeing Angela chew your shit out to the point where Jack just kind of took pity on you when it was his turn to scold you.” Gabriel smiled at the memory as he let Jesse use him like a kick board to slowly guide them both around the surface of the water. 

“Urgh. Don't remind me. I lost six years off my life with that fire she lit under my ass.” Jesse groaned softly as he rested his chin on his arms, goggles pulled back since they were likely going to be on the surface for a bit. He was still in his zebra-striped wetsuit and had his scuba gear ready to go whenever Gabriel wanted to start work but the guy seemed more content to just relax with him on the surface. “You falling asleep?”

“Kind of. Angela told me to take it easy today if I insist on drinking ginger ale, so, I’m taking it easy.” He explained softly before letting out a yawn.

Jesse was a bit taken back by that admission. “She’s LETTING ya drink the ginger ale this year?!? Did Hell freeze over while I was asleep?!”

“Shh. She lets me drink half of a shot glass of that stuff every hour, I’m not pushing my luck with her. I'm a bloat risk, Jesse. Be gentle with me.” He softly chuckled in amusement, gently splashing his tail on the surface just because he wanted to. The ginger ale was good stuff.

“So, Angela is doin’ double takes every time you burp or fart?” Jesse grinned as he turned them back on course once Gabe’s tail stopped moving so much. “Sounds like a rough day you’re gonna have. Just floating around all belly up and making yourself the perfect headrest fer me.” He sighed happily as he rested the side of his face on his arms, looking at Gabe like he was the most handsome man on Earth.

Gabe smirked in amusement at that. “You’re not too shabby of a propeller either, Jesse. I don't have to worry about running into walls when you’re driving.”

“How far would you toss my ass if I did run you into a wall?” Jesse snicker mischievously.

“I’ll tail slap you, McCree. I’ll do it when you least expect it too.”

Jesse tensed up at that, not really liking the memories he tried to keep repressed when Gabe accidentally tail slapped him in the past. It was like getting hit in the gut with a hard rubber baseball bat and he was lucky that Gabe didn't have any spines on his prosthetic either cause he would have been dead really quick.

“I’m joking, Jesse. You know I don't get physical anymore.” Gabriel calmly remarked to reassure Jesse. 

“I know. Just kind of remembered the wind getting knocked out of me underwater…” Jesse mumbled in embarrassment before clawed hand gently stroked his head cap.

“Yeah. I’m sorry for bringing that back up. I forgot how much it scared you.” Gabriel apologized sincerely as he looked at Jesse.

“It’s okay. We both learned from it. I mean. Look at us now! We don’t have to check where the other really is anymore cause you know how fast I swim and I have a general idea on your cruising speed and how you weave around.” Jesse chuckled in amusement as he gestured to both himself and Gabriel with his covered metal prosthetic while talking. 

“Probably helps that I keep the spines flat at all time when you’re in the tank.” Gabriel added in agreement to what Jesse stated. “Been tossing the idea around on getting the poison sacks removed but leaving the spines intact lately but that’s a big surgery that will leave me out of the pool for a while.” He mused as Jesse finished guiding them around the tank for the first lap.

“Woah.” Jesse spoke in amazement to that. “Doesn’t each spine have its own sack though?”

“Pretty much what I meant by having a long recovery time. Angela would have her hands quite full just doing the surgery but then there’s always the risk of infections and stuff, plus the sacks are close to the spine, for obvious reasons, and getting an infection there could be pretty bad. It’s not like I can just stay out of water for several weeks to heal either cause of bedsores, and shit probably happening with my gills if I don’t use them enough. Also, it might not stop me from poisoning anyone if we happen to overlook a teeny amount of poison still in a spine that wasn’t drained out.”

Jesse hummed in thought to that as he continued to slowly push the relaxing Gabriel around the surface with his feet while relaxing his front half on the shark hybrid’s abdomen. “Why not put something over the spines to cover them? Maybe dull the spine tips so they won’t puncture through whatever material they use to coat them?”

“It’s another idea we’ve been tossing around. Like I said, it’s just hypothetical talk with no real chance of happening soon since Hanzo and I are the main draws to the aquarium and Hanzo still has a while to go before he’ll be comfortable enough to be public facing for Q&A sessions. Gotta keep the money and research grants coming in.” He remarked with a proud smile, drawing a chuckle from Jesse.

“I’m certain as hell you’re one of the big draws to the aquarium and it ain’t just because you’re knowledgable and charming as hell.” Jesse snickered as Gabriel opened an eye at him and smiled affectionately.

“Wonder what the other part i-”

Jesse slid upwards over Gabriel, making the shark hybrid take over with his powerful tail to keep them afloat as the cowboy smoothly went in for a kiss. Gabriel wrapped an arm carefully over Jesse’s waist, below the oxygen tank on his back, to keep him steady and pressed back into the kiss the best he could while multitasking to keep them both balanced.


	8. No Matter the Distance

While the majority of the party took place in the designated party room for the guests, the aquarium speakers were playing Christmas music, even on the maintenance floor. Gabriel spent the majority of his time in his personal tank, talking to the staff as they came back and forth between the maintenance floor and the party room to try to make Hanzo and Gabriel feel like they were part of the party. Jesse, Genji, Jack, and Angela spent a lot of their time on the maintenance floor, hanging up decorations and chatting together while Hana was excitedly darting around to play with the new toys she received from Jack for her Christmas present to keep her occupied (and not bug Hanzo to play so much).

Angela kept looking over at Gabriel whenever he leaned over the side of his private tank to pluck the container she put the ginger ale in, along with the measuring cup. There was a bucket of ice cubes being used to keep the ginger ale cool by his tank, which was a huge improvement from the years prior where the drink would get warm within thirty minutes of Gabriel burying it under stones and sand to hide it from her but he was pretty nervous about drinking it, even with her approval. Did she have to narrow her eyes at him like that?

Gabriel uncapped the bottle and carefully measured the drink he was pouring into the cup before recapping it and setting it back into the ice bucket. Jesse was leaning up against the edge of his tank without his diving suit, meaning that the cowboy wasn’t going to join him in the water any time soon, but they still chatted happily to one another. Jack joined in on the conversation later, wanting to talk to Jesse about his schooling since Jesse and Genji got an email with their new courses for the next semester yesterday.

“‘Mako Rutledge’, huh?” Jack frowned as he looked at the paper printout Jesse handed him of his courses and who would be teaching them. Jesse quirked a brow at Jack before looking at the grim look on Gabriel’s face as he rested his arms on the rim next to where Jesse was leaning back again.

“You guys know him?” He asked curiously as Jack handed him back the paper, folded it up to tuck it back into his back pocket.

“Yeah, he was working with us to draft what would later be known as the ‘PETRAS Act’ and was very vocal about the wording of some of the proposals, especially when it came to more complicated facets of human/hybrid interaction that wasn’t exactly an issue but were a loophole we couldn’t risk being exploited.” Gabriel remarked as he took a sip from his measuring cup.

“Which was…?”

“Trading.” Jack spoke up as he crossed his arms over his chest casually. “Specifically trading of goods between wild hybrids and civilized populations. In places where wild hybrid populations have traditionally always traded with civilized populations, it was always seen as an act of goodwill for wild hybrids to trade trinkets and even food for whatever they wanted from the civilized without ever fully integrating with them. Leaving this interaction open meant that poachers had a way to kill or even traffic wild hybrids for nefarious purposes by simply saying ‘they traded themselves’ or ‘I killed them because they stole XYZ from me’. By banning ALL forms of interaction between the civilized and the wild hybrids, we broke a lot of eggs to make our omellete, as they say. We crushed a lot of positive interactions in exchange for full-protection for wild hybrids who want absolutely nothing to do with the civilized and preserve their way of life.” He explained to Jesse in a somber manner. “I’m not saying that your professor will go out of his way to make your class hell to get back at Gabe and I, but, that’s the history between the three of us that you should know about.”

“Rutledge has a lot to be bitter about since the islander nations were one of the hardest hit with the clause in the PETRAS Act. They lost a lot of tourism revenue since interacting with wild merfolk was a huge draw for people with money since merfolk are extremely skittish in general but the islander built up centuries-worth of respect that even folks like Jack and I found to be envious of.” Gabriel added. “Just try to be understanding of his position in the past but don’t be afraid to talk to a counselor or someone with authority at your school if he’s pushing the boundaries since he IS a professor there to teach you, Jesse. Our beef has nothing to do with you but don’t go out of your way to rub it in his face.” He then paused before looking up at Jesse once more. “Hell, I advise you to not talk about us or the aquarium around him if you can’t help it. Might make life easier, who knows.”

Jesse nodded his head, understanding that he would have to be careful around this professor but that there was a huge potential for him to learn of merfolk that even Jack and Gabe might not know about in his class. He was personally excited to meet someone like Professor Rutledge even if he was once at odds with Jesse’s mentors. “I’ll do my best to not offend him!” Jesse smiled as he saluted both Gabe and Jack with a lopsided smile.

Jack smiled fondly at that and patted Jesse’s shoulder. “Everyday you seem to move even farther away from the brat that was using our aquarium to smuggle drugs and more into a fledgling marine biologist that makes us proud to call you one of our own, Jesse.”

Jesse smiled happily at that, especially when Gabriel patted him on the lower back with his hand in agreement. He felt tears prick the corners of his eyes as he brushed a hand to wipe them away before they could fall. “Thanks, Jack. It means a lot to me to here ya say that.”

“You’re still a fucking idiot though but you’re working on it.” Gabriel teased playfully, his grin growing wider as Jesse lightly bopped Gabriel’s head with the back of his hand.

“No one asked for your opinion, Gabe!” Jesse laughed, unable to hold a serious facade with how happy he was at Jack’s praise and Gabe’s attempt to tease him.

Jack chuckled lightly in amusement and sighed happily as he glanced over at the clock on the wall. “Well, I’m thinking we should do the gift exchange now!” He announced to the folks on the maintenance floor to joyful fanfare. “If you have presents for Hanzo or Gabriel, bring them over now and place them on their feeding elevators. We’ll start with theirs first!”

Everyone started heading off to the hallway that lead to the aquarium proper but Jack found himself pausing to look back at Gabriel as they had a non-verbal conversation while Jesse waited for Jack by the door, mainly to hold it open for his boss. Jack nodded his head to Gabe before walking away, smiling as he walked by Jesse and casually flipped the brim of Jesse’s hat downward to cover his eyes to tease the cowboy. 

“Let’s go, Jesse.”

Jesse pushed his brim back up with a finger and grinned in amusement before following Jack into the aquarium proper, the door closing behind him with a soft click.

\--

Gabriel was doing everything in his power to not drool as he looked at the assortments of covered food and containers that were starting to pile up on his food elevator, Jesse snickering in amusement as everyone was filtering into the maintenance floor with their own gifts for Gabriel, Hanzo (and Hana). There were so many good smells mixing together that he had to resist leaning completely over the side to grab one of his many gifts and start eating before everyone was on the floor. He glanced over to the left to see that Hanzo curiously had one wrapped gift on his elevator platform, which was unusual since no one wraps up meat presents in actual wrapping paper unless it's expensive dry food.

“Alright, Gabe. Since you’re senior staff, we’ll start with your presents first then we’ll move over to Hanzo’s tank.” Jack announced once everyone was filed onto the maintenance floor and had finished placing their gifts on the recipient's food elevator. “You want to do the honors, Jesse?” He asked as he looked at Jesse beside him.

Jesse smiled happily at that. “Sure thing!” He walked over to the elevator and grabbed the smallest container first to read the label attached to it. “From Miss Zhou, our lovely receptionist, we have ‘Mackerel, Tuna, and Beef Supreme’!”

Gabriel actually let out a soft whine at that since Mei’s hand-made, grounded down, meat patties were something that Gabriel never got tired of eating year after year, and Jesse had to resist snickering as he placed the container back onto the elevator to grab the next one. Gabriel obviously was not allowed to eat anything outside of his usual feeding schedule so all the presents would be slowly incorporated into Gabe’s feeding schedule depending on what would expire the quickest. Mei’s patties were usually slotted in earlier but that didn’t mean Gabriel wasn’t going to take all of this without protest in the form of soft whines to shake Angela’s resolve. Fat chance any of that was going to work considering she made an except with the soda already.

“Next up, we have Reinhardt with what looks like to be a whole cow’s stomach?” Jesse asked questionably as he looked over at the huge man in the back, who was smiling from ear to ear with how proud he was of his gift. The stomach was wrapped up with newspaper and huge laying next to Jesse’s modest-looking deer leg by comparison. Jack groaned as he brought a palm to his face.

“You better flush and prepare that yourself, Rein, cause I’m not touching it!”

Everyone had a good laugh at Jack’s comment, including Gabriel.

“Anyways, it’s too big for yer’s truly to pick up so we’ll just show ya a picture later or somethin’, Gabe.” Jesse remarked simply and Gabriel just rolled his eyes as Jesse went to pick up the next container, reading off who it was from and what was contained in it if it wasn’t obvious when he held it up for the crowd and Gabriel to see. Gabriel got a lot of land-dwelling raw animal meat this year since fish was primarily part of his diet anyways or there was always something special mixed in with a raw fish dish to spice it up to a level worthy of the ‘present’ title. Jesse was happy as he picked up his own newspaper-wrapped gift, saving the best for last, and held it up proudly with both of his arms. “I got ya somethin’ special this year, Gabe! A whole deer leg!”

The pathetic whine that came from Gabriel’s lips as he eyed the concealed meat made Jesse smile since he knew Gabriel never had deer meat before in his life and was anxious to taste it. Jesse was kind as he set it back down on the elevator as they crowd cheered ‘Merry Christmas’ to Gabriel with the last present revealed to the merfolk. Jack nodded his head in approval as Jesse stayed by Gabriel’s private tank as the crowd migrated to Hanzo’s tank to help celebrate the present exchange with him. No doubt Jack would tap the whole thing so Jesse turned around, leaned over, and rested his arms down on the rim of the tank, his arms trying to occupy the same space as Gabriel’s as they looked at each other happily at eye level with one another.

“Merry Christmas, Gabe.” Jesse repeated softly to his partner, closing his eyes as Gabriel leaned forward to press his lips to Jesse’s. He hummed in content with how prolonged the chaste kiss was before he leaned away enough to press his forehead’s to Gabriel’s.

“Merry Christmas, Jesse. I got you something.” Gabriel replied as he pointed to the wrapped present that was leaning a bit out of view against the side of his tank. Jesse looked back at Gabriel like he was the best thing since sliced bread.

“Ya didn’t have ta, Gabe! Mah birthday was only a few months ago!” Jesse happily grinned before giving him another impulsive peck on the lips before moving away to go fetch his present from the side of the tank. He let out an ‘oof’ as he carried the large box back over where Gabriel was, set it down and started to unwrap it with excitement on his face before his jaw almost dropped out of his mouth from seeing the company logo on the box. “Holy shit!” Jesse practically squealed out as he took the lid off the box to see genuine, brand-named, leather boots that he couldn’t ever hope to afford until he got out of college. He quickly sat down and kicked off his tennis shoes while removing the excess padding from the inside of the boots before pulling them on, tucking his jeans into them easily. Jesse quickly got up on his feet and was absolutely giddy as he walked in his genuine cowboy boots, unaware that Jack had actually took a brief break from giving Hanzo presents to record Jesse’s happy first steps in his boots while Gabriel was practically melting from how cute Jesse’s reaction was.

“Please stop, Jesse, I can only take so much of this at one time.” Gabriel pleaded as he buried his face into his arms, still in his spot on the rim of his tank as Jesse rushed over and put his arms over Gabriel as he nuzzled his boyfriend’s hair with his nose while hugging him.

“No! This is-! I can’t believe ya-! I love ya ta pieces, Gabriel Reyes!” Jesse laughed happily at his boyfriend’s overreaction, and earning him coos from the peanut gallery as they watched him from afar. Jesse face heated up in embarrassment from being caught showing public display of affection for his boyfriend, especially while Jack gave him a thumbs up in approval as he recorded the whole damn thing with his camera.

“Okay! Okay! Enough!” Gabriel yelled as he felt his face burning from the attention and the fact that Jack was collecting sufficient blackmail material on him as well. He would never live to hear this down but it certainly wouldn’t be the first time considering he took Jesse on as his assistant all those years ago. Jesse was laughing hard as he parted from Gabriel and dodged the half-assed swipes Gabriel made at him to try to snatch the cowboy’s hat as punishment.

“Hey, now! No saltwater on the hat, Gabe!” Jesse teased as he stepped away from the edge of the tank and did an excited little twirl on his boot heels before coming to a slick halt. Gabriel grumbled and folded his arms back on the edge of the tank as he rested his chin on them.

“Go on now. I’m sure Jack wants you to hold the camera while he gives gifts to Hanzo. Scram already!” Gabriel huffed before giving Jesse a mischievous grin that Jesse return along with a playful wink.

“Roger, Boss!” Jesse replied, tripping the brim of his hat at Gabriel before dashing off to the crowd that was in front of the second general population tank. It would be his job to embarrass Jack and get it all on tape since Gabriel would be stuck in the nose-bleed seat in his personal tank.

Gabriel found himself smiling warmly as he watched the ever energetic cowboy dash off before reaching over the side of his tank to pluck the bottle of ginger ale and the measuring cup out of the ice. He set the cup on the rim of the tank before uncapping the bottle and carefully pouring the drink into the cup before capping it up to put it back into the ice bucket. His eyes gazed back at the crowd as he picked up the cup, sipping the bubbly drink slowly, and wondering what sort of gifts everyone got for Hanzo. It would be his first year receiving presents so maybe Jack would use it as an excuse to get the mere-serpent something nice to show him his budding feelings.

He found himself grinning at that as he tipped the cup to his lips once more. It reminded him of the first few years McCree started working with them and how embarrassed he initially was with being only able to provide them food boxes for gifts. He remembered how Jesse thrusted a plastic tray of sushi in his face and how red his face was in embarrassment when Angela dragged him by the ear to her office to educate him on merfolk diets and how she scared him straight with the whole ‘everything will kill Gabriel’ lecture. Jack and him shared the tray anyways when Angela wasn’t around like the misbehaving assholes they were back then and still are to some capacity.

Gabriel then reached back over to place the empty cup back into the ice bucket and continued to watch what he could from a distance. It always seemed to be that way with them anyways, not that he was really resentful of that anymore. So long as the cowboy wanted Gabriel’s attention, he would always find someway to compromise and fulfill it. Even with an ocean between them, he would still always have a way to be with Jesse McCree.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And with this chapter, this particular part of Gabriel and Jesse's journey comes to an end.
> 
> But don't be discouraged, everyone! There will be plenty more content and one-shots to come that deal with what happens when Jesse and Genji start their new semester at school like I hinted at! Please look forward to more stories and AUs in this particular universe! I'm not done with these two or this setting just yet!


End file.
